


Charge

by JuniperTree2000



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dick won't show up until chapter 6 now, Emotional Hurt, Homelessness, Hurt, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pickpocketing, Rogue Wally West, Slow Burn, Villain Wally West, Wally West-centric, Wally can charge his powers to run faster, Wally runs away, descriptions of children in pain, eventual birdflash, minor original characters, since I had to split a chapter in two
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25222903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuniperTree2000/pseuds/JuniperTree2000
Summary: After being told by the Flash himself how he got his powers, Wally aims to re-create the accident. He's successful. He becomes a speedster and runs away from home, opting instead to live on the streets of Central City. His decision leads him to a lifestyle of robbery, using his newfound speed to steal and establish himself as the villain 'Charge'. Although he finds family in the friends he makes and is happy with them, he still struggles to find himself. He battles with what he really wants.Follow 15 years of his life. From the year he gets his powers to... we'll see
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Wally West
Comments: 12
Kudos: 65





	1. 2004 - Wally's powers

**Author's Note:**

> Wally becomes a speedster, suffers through some pain, and makes a new friend.
> 
> Birthdays and ages:  
> Wally - November 11th, turns 10  
> Tina - May 17th, turns 13
> 
> speech like this, with dashes in between:  
> I-am-Flash-I-run-super-fast-yay  
> means speed-talk

** 2004 **

** October 22nd – Iris West and Barry Allen’s living room. **

Wally was stunned. _Stunned._ Absolutely stunned. So so so stunned. Believe him, if he knew all the other synonyms to the word ‘stunned’ he’d be using them right now. He’d be astonished, he’d be dumbfounded, he’d be flabbergasted and overwhelmed. But he hasn’t opened a dictionary since his English teacher asked him to search up the word ‘exhausted’ during class two weeks ago. So stunned it is. And stunned he was. Wally West was stunned when he stared up at Barry Allen, previously thought to be his aunt Iris’s extra boring boyfriend, but was standing in his aunt’s living room wearing the Flash’s suit. His cowl was off, and yellow lightning bolts were still dancing across his body. Wally. Was. Stunned.

If you asked Barry how he was feeling, he would not say stunned. He would say _horrified._ Somehow, he wasn’t careful enough to notice that his girlfriend’s nephew was sitting on the couch when he ran in. And now his girlfriend’s nephew knew he was the Flash. There was no way for him to cover this one up. Lightning bolts were _still_ flashing across his suit. Wally saw him run in! So, yes, Barry was horrified. Iris was going to murder him. Wally was a good kid, and Barry liked him, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to him because of this. Of course, it never really seemed like Wally felt the same way about him. But recently Barry was hoping that a visit from the Flash, who he’d discovered to be Wally’s favourite superhero, would get him on the kid’s good side. But now… well he couldn’t do that now, could he? What _was_ he supposed to do now?

Barry, ever the genius he was, settled on saying, “uh, hey there, squirt. Thought you weren’t due for another hour?” He glanced to the clock on the wall. He and Iris were babysitting Wally this afternoon since both of his parents were working late. He grimaced then. He just accidentally revealed his identity to a kid, and that’s the first thing he says? Come on, Allen.

Wally, after a moment of open-mouthed staring, replied, “I let myself in early.” He stared for another minute or so, the air becoming tense as Barry stared back. Suddenly, Wally jumped up from the couch. Forget stunned, he was _ecstatic_. The Flash was his aunt’s boyfriend! The Flash was standing in front of him right now! _The Flash!_ “You’re the _Flash!?”_ he shrieked, quite loudly. He then began to ramble, “does aunt I know!? I have so many questions! One, how did you get your powers? Two, how fast can you really run and what’s your limit? Three, why hide your identity!? If I were the Flash I would just tell everyone I know-”

“Wally! Wally, hey,” Barry knelt down in front of him, waving a hand franticly, “shush, hey. I need you to be quiet. You are asking these questions _very_ loudly and I have neighbors. Wally, serious time, this is serious now. Look in my eyes. Don’t look at the suit, look at my eyes. Are you looking? Wally? Okay, good.” Once he was certain Wally was paying attention, Barry took a moment to breathe deeply. He was not prepared for this. He sighed then pointed his hand at Wally. “Wally, you… _cannot_ tell anyone about this, okay? You can’t tell anyone you know who the Flash is. This can get really dangerous if people know that you know, alright? You can become a target for a lot of bad people. I never want to put you in danger, okay, Wally? Never. So people can’t. Know. You understand?” He raised his brow at Wally, his hands now gripping at his shoulders.

Wally stared for a second before nodding franticly. Barry sent him a smile and said, “need some verbal confirmation here, bud.”

Wally rushed to say, “yeah! Yes, I understand. Don’t tell anyone. Got it.”

Barry grinned and ruffled his hair, to which Wally complained. “You got it,” he agreed. “Also, yes, your aunt knows. But I am not excited for when she finds out that you know. She will certainly kill me.” He rose from his kneel with a sigh.

“I’ll convince her not to,” Wally said.

Barry laughed and shook his head. “Thanks, bud. Good to know you have my back.”

Wally beamed up at him, then looked down to the floor. When he looked back up, he had a sheepish smile on his face. “Can I ask questions now?”

Barry chuckled. “Sure thing, just give me a sec.” He disappeared then came back dressed in jeans and a sweater, all within a ‘sec’. Barry Allen likes to think he’s smart like that.

Wally blinked, then stared up at Barry in awe. “That’s so cool,” he said.

Barry smiles brightly. Then in the next second he’s over in the kitchen and waving Wally over. “Go ahead and sit down and ask away. I need to eat,” he called, already beginning to raid through the pantry.

Wally ran over and hopped onto a stool at the island. He raised a brow at Barry, who had his arms stacked with crackers, a box of lucky charms, two bananas, a bag of mixed nuts, seeds and sultanas, and some chocolate. So in short, a lot of food. “Okay, my first question would have to be why do you need to eat so much?” Wally asked, leaning on the island surface.

“Accelerated metabolism,” Barry said, his voice muffled by the bite of the banana he just took. Tapping into his speed, he finished the two bananas before he began to explain, “your body converts what you eat and drink into energy, right?” Wally nodded, and Barry nodded too. “So you need food and drink in order to function properly. For you, and everyone else, that process happens at a normal rate. My body, however, works faster than anyone else on this planet. My heart beats faster, I think faster, I heal faster and obviously, I move faster. Using all that speed eats up a lot of energy. So, I need to counteract that with lots and lots of food. And drink,” he added, turning to face the fridge. He grabbed three full bottles of Gatorade, that then quickly became three empty bottles of Gatorade. “Next question?” he said to Wally, who was gaping at him. Barry grabbed a carton of milk before he closed the fridge, then moved to make a bowl of cereal.

“How’d you get your powers?” Wally asked, tone distracted as he watched Barry bustle around.

Barry finished preparing his cereal, then placed his hands on the island and looked to Wally. “You really wanna know?” he asked with a raised brow.

Wally snapped himself out of his thoughts and threw his hands up. “Yeah! Dude, _everyone_ wants to know how you got your powers! But no one ever gets the chance to ask you! Except me.” He paused to point a thumb at himself. He then leaned across the island, clasping his hands together. “Can you please tell me? Please please please please please-”

“Alright!” Barry laughed. “Alright. I’ll let you in on the secret. What harm can it do?” He shrugged. Wally jumped in his seat, throwing his arms up with a loud ‘whoop!’ Barry laughed again, waving his hands to try and calm the kid down. “Do you want me to tell you or not?” He said. Wally immediately quieted and sat back down, eyes wide and an excited smile on his face. “So- wait hold on. I hate soggy cereal.” Barry quickly finished his cereal before he returned to explaining, “okay. So, short story is that I was doused with chemicals and struck by lightning.” Wally’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Long story is; you know how I’m a forensic scientist, right? CSI for the CCPD, analyse crime scenes, all that.” Wally nodded. “Right. So one night during a storm I was working with these two chemicals. Manganate ion and vanadium oxide. I was doing my usual thing, when suddenly a lightning bolt comes crashing through the skylight above me. Hits me square in the chest and sends me flying back into a cabinet full of those two chemicals. I get doused head to toe in the stuff. Blacked out, woke up four months later a speedster.”

Wally stared. His eyes were wide and his mouth dropped open, his body completely still. He suddenly moved and slammed his hands on the island. “That’s such a _cool_ story!”

“Hurt like hell,” Barry chuckled. He began to dig into the other snacks while Wally fired off questions.

“But why manganate ion and vanadium oxide? Did those chemicals have anything to do with it? Would it have happened with any other chemicals? Or did you gain your speed just because it was those two? Would you have _died_ if it was any other chemical!?” He exclaimed, dragging his hands down his face in a _very_ dramatic fashion.

Barry threw his head back in a laugh. “Give a speedster some _time,_ kid!” He giggled at his own joke while Wally groaned. That was a horrific pun. “Okay, okay. Let’s see here… I do know that the lightning strike caused the manganate ion to turn to manganic acid, which is commonly used in forensic science but is also used in MRIs and pulse radiology. I’m guessing that’s what altered my body to be one of a speedster’s. Altered main function organs like my brain, my heart and everything in my digestive system. The other one, vanadium oxide, that’s non-flammable and a conductor of electricity. It’s probably what gave me my actual speed. That and my speed healing.”

He took a break to eat a few crackers, then continued, “to be honest, I’m not completely sure if the same thing would’ve happened with any other chemical. It’s possible. No one’s ever tried it, and I don’t recommend that they do. It could lead to death, or worse.” He waved a cracker before tossing it into his mouth. He finished the rest of the crackers and folded his arms over his chest. “You got any other questions?”

Wally had sat through the whole explanation, wide eyes focused on Barry intently and brain soaking up every little bit of information the speedster gave him. “Of course! I have so many questions, like how fast-”

Wally was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. “I’m home!” Iris West announced. “You better be ready to go and pick up Wally, Bar! If not, you have five minutes! That should be enough for you…” Iris trailed off, grumbling to herself.

Barry smiled at Wally. “We’ll save the rest of your questions for later, kiddo.” He walked around the island, ruffling Wally’s hair as he moved past him. “Yeah, Iris he’s already here! Got here a few minutes ago,” he told her as he moved towards her. Iris faced him with a questioning hum. He placed his hands on her arms, rubbing up and down as he said, “listen… actually, you might want to sit down for this.”

** November 3rd – Wally came home from school **

When Wally opened the door, he was greeted with the raised voices of his parents. He felt a wave of frustration wash over him. They were fighting. Again. He walked inside with a silent sigh and closed the door behind him. He didn’t bother with announcing his presence. He glanced to the kitchen where the voices were coming from. Who knew what they were arguing about this time; bills, their relationship, chores, problems with their friends. Wally couldn’t find it in himself to care. Gritting his teeth, he turned away and marched up the stairs and to his room.

He closed his bedroom door, tossing his bag to the ground and his keys to his desk. With a long sigh, he flopped face down onto his bed. He laid there for a few moments, mind blank and numb. He flinched when one of his parents smacked the surface of something, probably the counter. Their voices rose in volume, escalating into a shouting match. He caught his mother screaming, ‘I deserve better than you, _dammit!’_ and his father yelling back, ‘you're wrong! You're _wrong! I'm_ the one that deserves better than this!' 

Wally dragged a pillow to his face and let out a muffled scream into it. Both of them were in the wrong here. _He_ was the one that deserved better. Wally deserved better than this. He deserved to have those kind of parents he saw on TV. The kind of parents who pick their child up from school and get them McDonalds on the way home. The kind of parents who pay attention to their kid. The kind of parents who don’t _fight_ and _glare_ at each other every single minute of the day. The kind of parents who loved each other. Even the kind of parents who could see that they had issues and would be divorced by now. Wally pulled his face away from the pillow, that familiar sting of oncoming tears at the back of his eyes.

He wished they would just divorce already. It’d be better than the complete and utter bullshit Wally was put through day to day.

He flipped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. He didn’t want to cry. Crying sucks. With a sniffle, he let his gaze wander around the room. His eyes landed on the Flash figurine on his shelf.

“I wish I could run as fast as you,” Wally murmured to it. “Then I can just run away from all of this.” He frowned- his eyes widened with realization. He gasped and sat up. “I can!” he exclaimed. Barry told him how he became the Flash! He basically gave him the recipe to gain superspeed! Wally jumped up from his bed and ran to his bag, digging out a notebook and his pencil case. He sat down at his desk and flipped the book to a blank page. He got out a pencil.

What some people might not know about him, and what might surprise them, is that he has a really good memory. See, he’s one of those people who _can_ remember what they had for breakfast the previous day. Peanut butter toast with a glass of orange juice. So it was easy to remember some chemicals that Barry had told him two weeks ago. Quickly, he wrote down, “manganate… ion and vanadium… oxide… plus lightning… equals superspeed!” He looked over his work, a grin on his face.

He was going to do this. He was going to become as fast as the Flash. And he was going to run far away from here. But where would he get those chemicals? He knew CSIs used them, but breaking into a police station is out of the question. He’d get arrested on the spot- wait. Didn’t Barry mention a home lab? He must have these chemicals there! He can handle stealing from a home lab, that’d be easy-

He paused in his thoughts when he heard footsteps approach his door. His mother. He hurriedly closed his book and faced the door. It opened and he found himself looking at his mother’s frowning face.

“Wally. When did you get home?” Mary West asked, tone flat and clearly unimpressed. Great. She was doing that thing again. After years of watching his parents, Wally had found himself learning their patterns. After a fight, his mother would wander around the house and actively look for things to make her even more upset. Usually, she would find something mild that Wally had done wrong and hound him for it. For the life of him, he could never figure out why she did that. All he knew was that it annoyed him to no end.

“A few minutes ago,” he answered her.

“And why didn’t you say anything?” She crossed her arms, irritation clear in her voice.

He shrugged and began to fiddle with the pencil in his fingers. “You and dad were… busy,” he said, choosing his words carefully. After all, he had to keep up appearances that he was a clueless and confused child.

She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before looking back at him. “Okay. Well, Wally you can’t just come home and not say anything. You have to tell us. Otherwise, we’ll think you haven’t come home yet and get worried and we’ll have to go out and look for you. Next time you tell me when you get home, alright?”

“Sure thing, mom.”

She looked to his book and his bag. “You got homework to do?” He nodded. “Alright, well get to it, please. And clean your room afterwards, it’s starting to become a mess. I thought I told you to clean it yesterday.” She then nudged the door further open, saying, “and the door stays open, Wally.” He nodded again, and she raised her brow at him. “Wally?”

“Yeah, mom, I got it,” he said quickly.

She sighed at him, seemingly unsatisfied by his response. Yet she eased off, nodding and walking away. Wally waited until her footsteps faded before sighing and turning back to his book. Opening it, he allowed a smile to come back to his face. He had a heist to plan.

** November 6th – Wally was sneaking into Iris and Barry’s home. **

Wally unlocked the door and walked in, letting it slowly click shut behind him. He looked around the immediate area. All the lights were off, the house completely silent save for Wally’s footsteps. There was an eeriness to it; the looming darkness swallowing the long hallways, the moonlight streaming in from the windows casting long shadows across the floor, the stillness of it all. Wally took a deep breath, silently reassuring himself that shadows couldn’t harm him. He fished a small flashlight out from his pocket and switched it on. Shining it down the hallway, he began to walk forward.

Barry and Iris weren’t home. They were away for the weekend, taking a much-needed break from their jobs and Flash business. Wally still couldn’t believe his luck. How coincidental is it, that the day after he was planning his little heist, Barry and Iris are telling him that they’re leaving their house unattended. It was the perfect opportunity to get the necessary chemicals. One could say that it was as if the universe wanted Wally West to become a speedster.

He crept down the hallway. He passed Barry and Iris’ room, stopping for a moment to observe the strange, perfect stillness of the area. Now that he thought about it, the whole house seemed to be frozen in time.

… Cool.

He smiled to himself, turning to continue down the hall until he reached the last door on the right. He knew this one to be Barry’s home lab. He twisted the doorknob, eyebrows going up when it easily opened. He frowned. He expected it to be locked. With a short hum, he shrugged and drew it up to be one of those lucky coincidences. He opened the door, wincing when it creaked even though no one else was around to hear it.

He stepped into the room and slowly looked around. The wall opposite the door was lined with cabinets that held beakers, flasks and cases of chemicals. To the right of the door there was a counter with cabinets and drawers under it. In the middle of the room stood a table. On top of it sat various lab equipment, including a microscope, bunsen burner, a few test tube racks and a complete set up of winding tubes connecting flasks. Wally stared as he walked past.

He reached the cabinet and tugged at the door handle. Locked. With a sigh, he looked around the room for where the key could be. He checked the drawers, the sound of metal clanging together echoing as he moved tools around. He reached the last drawer and pulled it open.

“Aha!” he exclaimed as he spotted a cluster of keys. He took it out and pushed the drawer closed, then moved back to the cabinet. There were about fifteen keys dangling from the ring. He got stuck into trying them all out. When he got to the seventh key, there was a satisfying click and twist that signalled the door being unlocked. “Yes!” he whispered triumphantly to himself. He opened the door and began his search.

“Manganate ion and vanadium oxide, manganate ion… vanadium oxide…” he repeated as he glided his fingers along the labels on flasks and beakers. He reached the second shelf, eyes narrowed as he read the slim black letters. “Manganate… manganate ion!” His eyes lit up as he spotted a flask full of dark green liquid. Gingerly, he reached in and pulled it out. He walked slowly to the table and placed it there. He went back to the cabinets and glared as he searched for the second chemical. His eyes landed on a flask of yellow liquid with two familiar words labeling it. “There you are,” he said as he gently grabbed it. He placed it next to the manganate ion.

He stared at the two flasks for a moment. He had done it. In front of him were the two chemicals that, combined with a lightning strike, will give him the power of superspeed. They’ll make him a speedster.

A thought struck him then. He frowned. Barry was the one to tell him these two chemicals were the key to getting superspeed. If he finds out that they’re gone, he might suspect Wally. After all, what kind of motive would you have to steal these chemicals other than becoming a speedster? Wally couldn’t think of a single one. “He’ll know it’s me…” he trailed off, glancing to the cabinet. When he gets his powers, Barry will likely come to the conclusion that the new speedster is him. If Wally wants to run and be left alone, then he definitely doesn’t want anyone finding him out.

“I need to throw him off my trail somehow,” Wally concluded. He walked over to the cabinet, thinking. “Maybe… maybe if I take something else, he won’t know it’s me,” he wondered. Then he nodded, feeling confident in that idea. He looked over the other chemicals laid out in front of him. His eyes became drawn to one glass bottle with a label wrapped around it. “Sulfuric acid… yeah, let’s go with that.” He grabbed the bottle and placed it with the others.

As Wally began to search for empty bottles with lids, a storm began to roll in. Up in the sky, the bright stars and shining moon became blanketed by dark, curling clouds. The air rumbled and became heavy with that thick smell of oncoming rain.

Wally transferred the manganate ion and vanadium oxide into the two empty glass bottles. He then washed the two flasks and put them away in a cabinet under the counter. He grabbed the three bottles, holding them gingerly in his hands. A flash illuminated the room in white light, followed by a low rumble that echoed through the air. Wally paused, frowning. A storm? The forecast didn’t say anything about a storm…

He shook his head. If there was a storm, that meant he had to get home quickly. He gave the lab one more look, then turned and walked out, closing the door behind him. He walked through the house, jumping when there was another flash of lightning. He halted in his steps. Lightning…

He looked down at the bottles in his hands. Lightning. There was lightning outside!? As he realized this, rain began to fall in buckets. It roared as it hit the earth, creating a sound similar to TV static. Wally ran for the door, pausing to pull up the hood of his jacket. He pulled the door open. He blinked as his face was sprayed with stray droplets of rain. He squinted up at the sky, watching as lightning flickered in the distance. As he stepped out into the rain, the wind began to pick up. He huddled in on himself, hurrying down the porch steps. He began to run down the sidewalk, his clothes quickly becoming soaked in water. He glanced up when there was a sharp clap of thunder. He winced as it crashed and echoed. The louder thunder was, the closer the storm.

Wally continued down the street. He reached the corner and quickly ran across the road. He reached the adjacent street and made his way down that one. He glanced behind him. He gasped. The sky was lit up by hundreds of flashes of jagged colours. White, blue, purple, yellow. Lightning shot down from above and struck the earth. The air was a constant vibration of crashes, bangs and grumbles. The rain poured and poured all around, streams of it racing down the streets and quickly filling up the gutters. Wally’s heart rate picked up, thumping fast and loud in his ears. Fear gripped at him. This storm was _terrifying._

He ran, breaths coming out in quick huffs. He gripped at the bottles in his hands. He flinched every time there was a flash of light. He reached another corner. He jumped forward to cross the road-

Lightning erupted downwards from the skies and struck him. He cried out, body tensing and collapsing all at the same time. His grip on the bottles tightened so much that they shattered. Liquid exploded outwards and landed onto him, sinking into his skin and clothes. Wally screamed, raw and pained as electricity seized him. Yellow lightning danced across his form. It crawled into and throughout his body, mixing with the chemicals. He laid on his side in the middle of the road, his body twitching and buzzing. He screamed again as pain shot through him. His cells seemed to boil, blood bubbling beneath his skin. It seemed like the pain would last forever.

In the next moment it was over. It faded into a background buzz. Yellow lightning thinned out, travelling down his body and leaving in a spark through his hands and feet. He experienced spasms a few more times before it stopped. With a strangled breath, he collapsed against the ground.

Around him, the storm was already beginning to settle. The rain let up, fading into a light drizzle. The clap of thunder became a light, low rumble. Lightning receded from the immediate area, returning to occasional background flashes of light.

Wally slowly sat up. He looked down to see shards of glass littering the asphalt. He sobbed when he registered sharp, stinging pain in his hands and legs. Raising his hands, he saw some shards had embedded into his skin. He looked at his legs and saw the same thing. Wally whimpered and looked around as he began to cry. There was no one in sight. His brow furrowed, eyes red and lips trembling. Had no one seen or heard lightning striking the middle of the street?

He shifted, sobbing again at the pain. This _hurt._ He had to stand, but he couldn’t move. He looked back at his hands and legs. He needed to get these shards out. But how? There were tiny shards in his fingers, he couldn’t _move._ A gasp escaped him when his body began to buzz again. Fear struck him, afraid that the pain was going to start up again. Instead, the buzz focused into his hands and legs, then they began to _vibrate_.

His hands and legs became an uncontrollable blur. Wally’s eyes widened. “Wh-wha? What?” he stuttered. In the next moment, he felt the shards _exiting_ his skin. They dropped from his body and tumbled to the ground, clanging lightly against the asphalt. His hands and legs stopped vibrating. Wally scrambled backwards, having gained control over his limbs again. He reached the curb and stopped. As he shivered uncontrollably, he raised his hands again. His breath began to pick up as he noticed that even though they were covered in blood, the bleeding had stopped altogether. He held them closer and rubbed a thumb over the palm of the other hand. Smooth. No punctures.

Wally hyperventilated, eyes wide and body buzzing and shaking. He had healed. He had healed _fast._ He had _vibrated_. He could vibrate and he could heal fast. Is that… could the Flash do that? He- he didn’t know. He didn’t know if the Flash could do that! He just knew that the Flash could _run!_

Wally was suddenly on his feet. He gasped and whipped around to where he was on the ground. When-how-when did he get- how did he get up when did he get up when did he do that he didn’t even _think_ of doing that it-just-happened-one-moment-he-was-on-the-ground-then-the-next-he-wasn’t-

Wally gripped at his head. He was thinking too fast! There were too many thoughts crashing through his mind, like tidal wave after tidal wave. “Stop thinking!” he shouted at himself. He wanted to stop thinking! How did he do that? He shook his head violently then looked to the side to the end of the street.

The world blurred around him. Wind and rain whipped past his face. He felt his hood get thrown off his head. He came to a stumbling stop, letting out a surprised yell. He looked behind him and gasped. A trail of yellow lightning and colours faded out behind him. The ground was smoking, with black skid marks scratched along the concrete. Wally looked down at himself, chest heaving with rushed breaths. He let out another yell when he noticed his shoes smoking as well. He aggressively stomped them against the ground until the smoke fizzled out.

Wally froze and just stood there, breathing and staring down at his feet. He could run. He could _run. He was fast._

He let out a breathless laugh. He sniffled, his eyes clearing and tears beginning to dry and go cold on his cheeks. He laughed again. He then looked up and around him. He paused. Where was he? This street was unfamiliar to him. He’d never seen these houses before. He didn’t know where he was. Panic shot through him and he looked back the way he came. He shoved himself forward, feeling his body become alive with electricity before he was moving again. The world blurred and he had to squint his eyes against the wind. As his legs moved at high speeds, he tried to focus on looking at his surroundings. Everything was blurred and he couldn’t tell where he was or where he was going. He had to slow down.

“Stop!” he yelled at himself. He glanced down at the lightning dancing across him. He wasn’t stopping. “Stop! Stop running! Stop-” he was thrown out of his speed, the world stilling and returning to normal. He shouted as he impacted against the ground and went tumbling. He groaned, staying still for a moment before trying to get back up. His hands and knees stung. He looked down to see the palms of his hands scratched and irritated. He watched with fascination as they began to heal, cuts closing up and redness fading away. He brushed them together, dusting off pieces of dirt and gravel. He checked his surroundings. He knew where he was.

“This is my street,” he noted, standing up. He looked across the street to see his house. The lights were off, his parents most likely still asleep. His eyes narrowed, face hardening. He curled his hands into fists, determination settling down in his heart. “I need to get my things and go,” he said to himself.

He walked across the street and around his house. He reached up to begin climbing up to his window. Suddenly lightning flashed around him and his body went through the motions of the climb. He was in his bedroom the next second. He laughed lightly, watching the lightning disappear. “That’s so cool,” he whispered. He stilled when he heard the shift of blankets down the hall.

Panic seized his heart. He moved to pack his bag. His world became blurred again as his speed took over. But he still couldn’t _see._ Squinting his eyes, he focused hard and willed his sight to catch up with his speed. Soon enough his eyes were moving as fast as he was, and he could see his room clearly. He grabbed his bag and placed it on the bed. He grabbed his secret wad of cash, his stash of snacks and some spare clothes. He shoved them all in his bag. Lightning crackled as he moved, no doubt making enough noise to rouse his parents. He grabbed a few more things, including his Voltron figurine. He finished packing his bag, then quickly changed from his wet clothes to some dry ones. Next, he grabbed the bag and threw it onto his shoulders. He tapped out of his speed, taking one last look around his room.

He heard his father’s footsteps. After throwing a look to the Flash figurine on his shelf, he tapped back into his speed and jumped out the window. He landed with a grunt, but wasted no time in standing up straight and speeding down the street.

By the time Rudy West stumbled into his room, his son was nowhere to be seen. The room was a complete mess and the window was open, but his son was gone.

Wally raced towards the city. As he ran, he allowed a grin to bloom across his face. He ran through the city streets until he got to the other side. He tapped out of his speed and stumbled into an alleyway. He stopped for a moment to steady himself and breathe. Then with a laugh, he walked further into the alleyway. He laughed again, then jumped up in the air with a loud whoop, throwing his fist up.

He had done it. He had become a speedster.

** November 17th – Wally was starving and in dire need of food. **

Almost two weeks later, Wally stood in a 7-Eleven, staring at an isle of snacks. He had a frown on his face, his skin was considerably pale, his hair was flat and oily, and there was a constant sharp twinge of pain in his stomach. In his arms, there was already a growing pile of assorted snacks.

Over the past week and a half, he had come to the conclusion that living on the streets _sucked._ He hadn’t slept the night he got his powers. Instead he had sat down and stared at his hands and feet, feeling the distant thrum of electricity beneath his skin. After a few minutes of doing that, he got back up and _ran._ He ran out of the city and found a field, then he ran around and around in circles at least a hundred times, maybe even more. Then he got _hungry._ Painfully so. His stomach twisted and curled, growling loud and long. It caused his mouth to water and he began to feel sick. He felt like vomiting, even though he knew that there was really nothing in his stomach to vomit up. So he stopped running and ate some of the snacks he had packed. But the hunger didn’t stop there. So he ate some more. He ate until there were no snacks left. He was still hungry. He didn’t know why. Then he did. _He forgot about the high metabolism._ He could vividly remember Barry telling him that speedsters needed to eat more because of how much energy they used up when they ran. He should’ve known. He should’ve packed more food. He concluded that the more he ran, the more he became hungry. So he stopped running because being this hungry _hurt._

The next day he explored the city, at a normal pace, to find some food vendors. He spent some of the money he had on burritos, hot dogs and warm pretzels. It quelled his hunger a little. He stopped by a 7-Eleven that day to purchase some snacks to ration over the next few days. That night he was exhausted from the day’s ordeal. He didn’t want to sleep in a wet, foul-smelling alleyway, so he wandered around for a little bit. He found a 24-hour laundromat, well-lit and warm from the whirring machines. He curled up in the corner and fell asleep. Having been a quiet part of the city, no one had bothered him that night. He left in the early morning with no problems.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t ever cold. Even though it was reaching late November, autumn transitioning to winter, he didn’t even feel a little chilly. After thinking over the possibilities as to why, he concluded that the extra energy and constant thrum under his skin generated more heat than was normal for a human. He counted that as a win. At least he was warm.

However, he stank and his powers were bothering him. He hadn’t showered in almost two weeks. He felt _gross._ He was still trying to figure out where he could possibly have a shower, or at least brush his teeth and maybe wash his hair. He decided that he _hated_ oily hair. When it itched he would scratch, then his hands would get oily and he would touch his face then his _face_ would get itchy and it was _so annoying._ His powers were useless to him at the moment. They couldn’t clean him and so far they were just creating problems. Like starving him. He also couldn’t control them. Sometimes the speed just took over. One moment he’d be standing in the middle of the street and the next he’d be three blocks away! It was bothersome. It was _annoying._

He almost missed his birthday. He only remembered when he walked past a TV broadcasting the news, the date displayed in the corner. It shocked him, to say the least. He turned ten. It seemed like that should be a pretty big deal. It seemed like it should’ve involved a big birthday party, with lots and lots of presents. He briefly wondered if that’s what he would’ve gotten had he stayed home. He got frustrated at that. All it took was one peek at the Voltron figurine in his backpack, and he took his anger out on it. He snatched it out of the bag and threw it down an alleyway. He watched it hit the back wall, an arm falling off as it fell to the ground, becoming scratched and covered in grime.

“Why did I bring you!? You’re not even _helping!”_ he had yelled at it. Then he turned and stormed away, hot tears in his eyes as he left it behind. That day, he was almost tempted to go back home.

_Almost._

Now, Wally picked out five bars of milk chocolate from the shelf and added them to the pile in his arms. Who doesn’t want chocolate? He grabbed a packet of pretzels and placed it atop a box of crackers. Deciding he had enough food, he began to move towards the counter. He walked by the fridge area and paused when he spotted sandwiches, fruits and vegetables. He looked down at his arms. He considered the fact that maybe the reason he was still hungry was because he was constantly eating snacks. Maybe snacks aren’t all that fulfilling or nutritional. He supposed he should purchase something healthy as well.

He glared at the fridge. Then he stepped forward and scooped four turkey sandwiches into the pile and grabbed two apples. He took a moment to adjust the contents in his arms. After feeling certain that nothing would fall out, he marched over to the counter and dumped everything onto the surface. He looked up to the cashier. She had her back turned to him and was talking in a hushed voice into a phone. He frowned.

She glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows going up when she noticed him. “Uh, just give me a moment, kid,” she said, waving him off before returning to the phone.

His frown deepened. He took a step back and crossed his arms, tapping his foot. He wanted food _now,_ dammit. The clenching pains in his stomach were starting to hurt more than he was comfortable with. As he waited, he began to slowly look around the counter. His gaze trailed to a pin-board. He stilled when he found himself meeting his own eyes. His arms dropped to his sides and he stepped closer. There was a missing poster for him. They used a picture of him just three months ago when he had won the science fair; standing beside his parents and his project, holding the trophy and branding a huge smile on his face. Right. Because that was one of the only days his parents ever _looked_ at him. Under the photo was his full name, information about his age and appearance, a phone number and a money reward of $2000.

_He was worth $2000!?_

He was stunned. That was a lot of money! He glanced over to the cashier, still on the phone, then back to the poster. He felt panic shoot cold through him. She was on the phone. She was calling the police! They were going to be here any minute and they were going to bring him back home. He didn’t want to go back home. Sure, so far being out here kind of sucked. But at least he was alone and not constantly surrounded by parents _fighting._ He was sure with a little bit more time he would begin to like being out here! As Wally glanced to the food piled on the counter, these were his thoughts:

_I have to go. I have to go right now. But I need that food. I haven’t paid for it yet. But I’m so hungry. I need that food. Do I have to steal it? There’s so much of it, it’ll take forever for her to scan it all through! They’ll be dragging me into a car by the time she’s done. I need that food. I have to steal it. But I can’t steal! That’s wrong, isn’t it? But I need that food I-need-food-I-have-to-I’m-going-to-steal-I’m-going-to-steal-I’m-going-to-steal-_

_The cameras!_

He had begun to tap into his speed and reach for the food, but in the corner of his eye he caught a security camera staring down at him.

They’ve already seen him. They know what he looks like. If he used his powers then they were going to know that he’s a speedster. Barry worked with the police. He might see the footage and he’s going to know and he’ll chase Wally and he’s probably faster and he’sgoingtotakehimback- Wally didn’t want to go back! He _hated_ his home. He had to get rid of the footage, and the cameras. The back room. He knew for a fact that they kept the tapes in the back room.

Now tapping into his speed, he ran through the unlocked- oh. The door was unlocked. Either it was another one of those lucky coincidences or this cashier girl was looking for trouble. Wally ran into the back room. He yanked the tape out of the VHS and shoved it in his backpack. He ran back out and with quick precision he removed the footage from every camera he could find. He threw the cartridges into his bag then sped back to the counter. He stuffed the food into the backpack, forcefully zipped it up and threw it back onto his shoulder. He threw an apologetic glance to the cashier before he sped out of the 7-Eleven in a flash of lightning.

By the time the girl turned around the boy was gone, along with the food, and the door was left swinging.

Wally ran until he reached the edge of the city, then stumbled into an alleyway. He took a moment to breathe, resting his hands on his knees. He then took off his backpack and slid down one of the walls into a sit. He placed the backpack between his knees and unzipped it. He stared down at the contents.

He just stole food.

A sense of guilt reverberated through his mind. He knew that stealing was bad. People got arrested for stealing. But, he also knew that he was starving and he needed food. If he had stuck around to pay for the food, the police would’ve arrived and taken him back home. That wasn’t an option. So he couldn’t stick around, and he couldn’t pay. He needed food. So… he needed to steal. If he needed to steal in order to eat and survive, that didn’t make it wrong, then. Right? As Wally’s stomach clenched in pain he decided that no, that didn’t make it wrong.

While he grabbed the turkey sandwiches and began to dig into them, he also decided that perhaps his powers were useful to him after all.

** November 18th – Central City. Wally felt the need to run. **

The next night, Wally was no longer hungry and he felt what he could only describe as an _itch_ to run. Electricity buzzed loudly under his skin. His fingers and legs occasionally twitched with the request to _move._ To _run._ After saving him from hunger and the possibility of going home, Wally felt that he owed his powers a run. So after tightening the straps of his backpack, he let the electricity loose. Yellow lightning crackled around him before he broke into a sprint, the world slowing down. After adjusting his eyes so he could see, he ran out into the outskirts of the city. He located the same field he had the first night he got his powers, and ran some laps.

Around twenty laps in, the narrowed glare in his eyes began to soften. He began to smile. As he zipped past a tree and caused the leaves and branches to rattle from his speed, he began to laugh. The wind whipped past him, messing with his locks and cooling his face and making him feel _alive._ He jumped into the air and whooped as he passed the fortieth lap. He changed course and ran to a little hill that was at the edge of the field. He tapped out of his speed, stumbling a little before resting his hands on his knees.

He breathed heavily for a moment. Then he stood up straight and took a deep, exaggerated breath, eyes going wide. “That was _awesome!”_ he shouted as he released the breath, jumping up and throwing two fists into the air. He placed his hands on both sides of his face and laughed. “I was so _fast!_ I must’ve looked like a blur to anyone else! No one could even _see me!_ I’m so fast I can create wind! Does that mean I technically have wind powers, too? _Can I create a tornado!?”_ he screamed the last part at his hands. He looked up. “I should test it! I should…” he trailed off as he caught sight of a lone building in the distance. He narrowed his eyes and quietly asked himself, “what is that…?”

He glanced around him before speeding closer. He stood about a hundred meters away and studied the building. It was a large brick warehouse with a tin roof. The windows were broken, some of the glass knocked out completely. It seemed like nature was slowly reclaiming the structure. Vines sprouted from the ground and crawled up the walls, and draped itself over the windowsills. The branches of a nearby tree were reaching out and into the windows, like long bony fingers. The bricks were spotted with random splotches of colour, as if someone had attempted to re-paint it but had given up halfway. There was some faded graffiti decorating the bricks as well. From where he was standing, Wally could also see that some parts of the roof had collapsed inwards.

Overall, it looked incredibly tempting to explore. “It looks empty…” Wally whispered, squinting into the windows. He thought about it for a second before speeding over to the large, looming wooden door. The second door lay in the grass a couple of meters away. Wally leaned his head in and investigated the area. It was a cement floor, with cracks running through it and shrubbery bursting from those cracks. There were rusting metal columns that led up to the roof, connecting to metal beams. He was right about the roof; it was riddled with gaps and there were slabs of steel laying around the place.

“Hello?” Wally called, his voice echoing into the building. There was no response. “Anyone there?” he tried again, just in case. Still no response. Wally hummed in consideration, pouting and thinking hard for a moment. Coming to a decision, he tapped into his speed and ran around the inside and immediate outside area of the building. He found no sign that anyone was around. He zipped back to the warehouse and came to a stop in the middle. He glanced around one more time.

“It doesn’t seem like anyone’s been here in _years_ ,” he said, tapping a finger to his chin. He studied the layer of dust along the cement, the cobwebs dangling in every corner, and the shards of broken glass littering the ground. He smiled excitedly, placing his hands on his hips and puffing his chest out.

“I can totally make this into a secret lair,” he claimed, nodding to himself.

** December 5th – Wally stood in a dumpster, searching for what he needed to install a light. **

Wally inspected the cord, turning it over a few times before concluding that it was a lot less torn up than the last one he found. He placed it in his backpack. He needed to find at least three more decent ones before moving on. He shifted, listening to the cling and clack of metal mixing together. He began to sift through the dumpster again.

“What the hell are you doing?” a small voice with a British twang asked behind him.

He whipped around, eyes wide as panic shot through him. However, he wasn’t looking at an employee as he had expected to be. Instead he was looking at a girl around the same age as him. She had peach coloured skin, ash brown hair, and stormy grey eyes. Her hair was cut short, messy and uneven in a way that suggested it was haphazardly cut. She wore a sweater and a coat that drowned her frame, plain jeans and a pair of runners that were tearing at the seams.

Wally sighed in relief. She was just another street kid. He turned back to the dumpster and went back to rifling. “Looking for things,” he told her. When silence was her only response, he looked back to find her staring weirdly at him. An expression of mild shock mixed with sympathy. “What?” he snapped. Wally was irritated. It had been a long day of searching through stinky and uncomfortable dumpsters to get the supplies he needed to install lights into the warehouse. He did not need some random girl judging him, for whatever reason.

She blinked herself out of her thoughts. “Sorry,” she said, “just- you’re a kid.”

He glared and replied, “so? You are too.” He turned away from her, tossing a coil he _knew_ he’d seen before to the side.

Footsteps sounded throughout the alleyway, then out of his peripherals Wally saw her reach the dumpster and lean against it. “Well, yes. But I’m willing to bet I’m older than you. I’m thirteen,” she told him. When he said nothing, she placed her hand on the rim of the dumpster and leaned into his line of sight. She gave him an expectant expression.

While focusing on tugging on a loose coil, he answered shortly, “ten.”

She smiled sadly. “Three years younger, then. That’s… that sucks.” She puffed out her cheeks and blew out a breath, moving away from him to lean back against the dumpster. “I didn’t think there were kids younger than me out here,” she said, looking forlorn. Wally paused to narrow his eyes at her, then shook his head and with a sharp pull, he unraveled the coil. He inspected it closely, then threw it back when he found a gathering of copper wire had been snapped in half. No electrical current was getting through that. The girl turned to him at the noise, frowning when she saw him cross his arms and glare fiercely at the contents of the dumpster. She rested her hands back on the rim. “So uh, what ‘things’ are you looking for, then?” she asked.

Wally considered her for a moment. She’ll probably just turn and walk away after he rambled about things she probably doesn’t understand. So, he told her, “I’m looking for some electrical cables where the copper wires aren’t completely snapped in half so that it will provide a solid electrical current. As well as some wire nuts, cutters, pliers and remodeling boxes and fixture straps.” He raised his brow at her once done. He expected her to frown, make up an excuse and slowly back away.

Instead she tilted her head and asked, “electrical cable? Remodeling boxes? Are you installing a light or something else?”

He blinked. He did not consider the possibility that she actually would understand what he was talking about. “Uh, yeah. Actually,” he said. Then he regretted it. He didn’t want her knowing that!

“Really? What for?”

He bristled. “None of your business!” he snapped, glaring.

Her eyes widened and she leaned back, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. “Whoa! Okay, I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me, I won’t pry. But I can help.” Slowly, she approached him again. “Look. I get it. Trusting people on the streets is hard, especially trusting other kids. We’re all very sneaky and quick to betray each other in order for an extra scrap of food. But I don’t think it should work like that. We should all stick together, trust each other and depend on one another. You look like you could use a hand, so let me help!” She sent him a smile.

He considered her with suspicion. “What’s in it for you?” he asked. During the past month and a bit that he’s been out here, he’d taken notice that conversations like this usually lead to some sort of deal. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Which, gross.

She shook her head. “Nothing. I promise! Honestly, this is probably the most interesting thing that’s happened to me in the past month. Helping a kid search through a dumpster for equipment to install a light? Sounds like fun!”

He thought over it for a moment. Sure, she sounded genuine, and she looked genuine too. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint any sign of lying in her face. But then again Wally didn’t know all that much about lying so his trying was kind of useless. He sighed. If anything went wrong at least he’ll have his superspeed to help him get out of trouble.

“Fine. You can help.”

She beamed up at him. Then, using the same milk crate he had, she levered herself and joined him in the dumpster. “So what’s your name?” she asked.

He crossed his arms and demanded, “yours first.”

She laughed and held her hand out, then introduced, “Christina Weller.”

He shook her hand and replied, “Wally West.”

“Nice to meet you, Wally.” She looked around the dumpster for a moment. “Okay, I’m going to look for some electrical tape that might help you repair some of the snapped copper, you just keep on looking for more cables,” she said.

He frowned, feeling begrudgingly impressed. “That’s actually a good idea,” he thought aloud. He felt his face go warm when she laughed. Sending him a smile, she began to search through the various tools and equipment as he grumbled to himself.

** December 24th – it was Christmas Eve and Christina was waiting for Wally in front of a large Christmas display. **

“Christina!” Wally called, jogging up to the girl with a large grin on his face. His face was partially obstructed by two folded woolen blankets he had gathered in his arms.

She turned her eyes away from the large tree that was illuminating the town square in a brilliant yellow light. “Wally, thank god. It’s _freezing_ ,” she shivered and tucked her hands further into her sides.

“I bring blankets and warm food to help with that,” he said as he reached her, holding out said items.

Her eyes widened. “Are those _hotdogs?”_ She gazed down at the four hotdogs squashed together in his grip.

Wally beamed. “Yeah! And I got hot chocolate, too!” From under the pile of blankets he held out a thermos and shook it. It was a thermos he had found in an alley a few days ago, which he took to a public restroom and washed it sparkling clean.

“ _Hot chocolate!?_ I haven’t had hot chocolate in ages!” With awe in her eyes, she grabbed the thermos and curled her hands around it, sighing as warmth sank into her skin.

“I still had some money saved up!” He just told a lie. He used all of his money to buy a few packaged sandwiches two weeks ago. He had stolen the hotdogs from a vendor three blocks away, as well as the hot chocolate, and the blankets from a dry cleaners on the other end of the city. He couldn’t tell Christina that, though, as she didn’t know about his powers quite yet. He would tell her soon enough. “Think of it as a Christmas present from me to you!” he chimed.

She scoffed, nose scrunching up as she shook her head at him. “It’s not even Christmas yet, dummy. Plus, I believe gifts are supposed to be wrapped, not visible as soon as you hand them to me. You’ve ruined the surprise.” She gently nudged a finger against his shoulder.

He pouted. “Well there wasn’t supposed to be a surprise! Plus, I’m not wrapping hotdogs because then the sauce will get everywhere and they’ll be ruined.” She laughed at the serious expression on his face. “Also! It’ll be Christmas in a few minutes! So chill out!” he nudged his own finger against her shoulder.

She laughed again, stepping back before returning and grabbing a blanket. “Okay, alright, just give me my blanket and let’s sit down and eat,” she said, plucking the blanket out of his arms and dropping down to the floor, crossing her legs. He was quick to follow, smiling widely as he waited for her to wrap the blanket around her form. As she cuddled into it, he handed her two of the four hotdogs, then wrapped his own blanket around himself. He shifted around before leaning into her side and resting his head on her shoulder. She rested her head atop his in return. They began to eat, silently passing the thermos between them and basking in the yellow glow of the Christmas tree.

After Christina had helped him search through dumpsters, the two of them kept accidentally bumping into each other for the next few days. It got to the point where Christina just suggested that they stick together. Wally agreed, and from then on the two would find each other in the morning and stay together during the day. They departed at night, though. Wally got into the routine of running at night time, plus he was still working on fixing that warehouse, so he made up the excuse that he likes to explore at night. Christina didn’t bug him about it, since she always got tired quickly and as such couldn’t be bothered following him. That was partly the reason she kept complaining about how he convinced her to stay up until midnight. Wally did want to invite her to the warehouse, but he wanted to make sure it was presentable first.

The two had grown close over the past few days, learning a lot about each other and quickly considering the other as a friend. Wally learned that Christina absolutely despised talking about her past, having stormed away with teary eyes the first time Wally asked. He never pried after that, and she never asked him either. They just focused on the present, depending on each other to survive.

As Christina sipped on the hot chocolate, the large clock behind the Christmas tree chimed.

Wally grinned brightly and turned to her. “Merry Christmas, Tina!”

She raised a brow at him, smiling. “Tina?”

“Yeah! I’ve been thinking about it for a bit, I thought it’d be a cool nickname! Your name’s too long, anyway.”

“It’s only three syllables.”

“That’s one syllable too long,” he deadpanned. She laughed, shaking her head. “So, Tina, do you like it?”

She hummed, thinking on it for a moment. “Tina… you know what, I kind of do,” she said, nodding. His grin widened and she smiled back at him. Then, with a snicker she ruffled his hair. “Merry Christmas, Wall-man.”

“Wall-man! I like that one!”


	2. 2005 - Wally's friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally becomes accustomed to living at the abandoned warehouse, and makes some new friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Birthdays and ages:  
> Ashley - June 7th, turns 11  
> Connie - September 27th, turns 10  
> Mason - February 9th, turns 13
> 
> I apologise if this chapter is a boring one. I feel like it is. This chapter, as well as the first, is kind of just meant to introduce characters and set up the story. So really, the first two chapters are more like prologues. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

** 2005 **

** February 19th – Wally and Tina were plucking weeds out of the warehouse floor **

With a sharp tug Wally plucked out the weed. He dropped it into the bucket beside him and moved onto the next. As he wrapped his hands around another weed, he glanced over to where Tina was. She sat at the other end of the warehouse doing the same task as him. For the majority of the day they had been working on cleaning up the building. The aesthetic of a building overrun by nature had been cool for a bit, but after too many spider scares, plus the incident of a possum scuttering past, the two had decided it was time to clean the place.

Tina had been staying with Wally for a little over a month now. During the days following New Years, Wally had made the decision to reveal his powers to her. He had come to the conclusion that Tina was a person to be trusted. Not once had she done something that caused him to doubt that. All she did was lend a helping hand when he needed it, and overall had been someone Wally enjoyed being around. He wanted her to stay by his side. But for her to do that, he had to tell her his big secret before she accidentally found out herself.

They had been walking around a secluded part of the city. Not many people were out thanks to the cold weather, a light drizzle of snow having chased everyone indoors. Wally saw it as an opportune time to reveal his secret. He pulled Tina into an alleyway where they wouldn’t be seen. Using his superspeed, he ran laps around her a few times. When he came to a stop in front of her, she was shocked into silence. Then, she screamed. And proceeded to freak out. Very loudly. She had barraged him with questions as he tried to get her to quiet down. He gave brief and vague answers to what she asked. He didn’t want Tina running off and getting herself struck by lightning. He remembered how much the process had hurt, and did not want Tina to experience that pain. After requesting that she do so, Tina promised to keep his powers a secret between them.

So far, she hadn’t told a single soul. Although, she did still constantly ask him questions as well as suggest that they run tests. He always replied with “how?” which caused her to go silent as she realized they didn’t have the technology to do said tests. She’d leave it alone until she asked again a week later.

Apart from her incessant questions, Wally loved her company. She had a personality that matched his. She never shied away from causing trouble where trouble was needed. Though, she was often a lot more practical about it. Where Wally ran into trouble, Tina planned trouble with an air of carefulness. The two of them were equal in their love for engineering and science. It was uplifting for Wally. Back at school, none of his friends understood his appreciation for the subject of engineering. With Tina he could rant all day and she’d rant right back about science. By this point Wally had started thinking of her as the older sister he never had.

When he brought her to the warehouse she was ecstatic. It was a secluded, sheltered place and it was _theirs_. Compared to the streets of the city, it was _safe._ Together they began to work on fixing the worst of it. Their solution to the holes in the roof was to take discarded tarps from alleyways and nail them down over the holes. It was a temporary fix, but it was enough to keep the snow out. However, there were some nights where the snow still blew in from the wide open entrance and the shattered windows.

Wally looked around the building. In one corner situated a pile of blankets, pillows and sleeping bags. It was there that the two huddled together and slept at night. Next to it was a low bin full of wood, carboard and old newspaper. They used it to light a fire on the colder nights. Other than that, the warehouse was bare. There were the few lights Wally had installed on the brick walls, the wires exposed. The concrete was still littered with weeds, cracks and old graffiti. Plus, there were still holes in the windows and one of the doors was missing.

Wally pressed his lips together and hummed. Of course, they still had work to do in order to clean the place up. They had to break the branches that were reaching into the building. They had the floors and walls to scrub clean. They had to make an attempt to put the door back up. They still had much to do, but Wally figured that more could be done to make the abandoned building feel like a home.

He looked back to Tina. Her face was scrunched up and red, her teeth gritting as she tugged harshly at a resistant weed. “Tina,” he called to her.

She acknowledged him with a grunt.

“I think we need more things,” he told her, taking another glance around the warehouse.

She finally tugged the weed out, grunting as she fell back on her butt. She tossed the weed into her bucket then looked over at him. She brushed her hands together. “Like what?” she asked.

His eyes drifted to the ceiling, thinking for a moment. What items make a home a home… what is necessary for a home to have… “Maybe… we could get a fridge!” His gaze snapped back to her, eyes bright with the idea.

“Fridges are heavy,” she pointed out.

“Well then we’ll get, like, one of the smaller ones,” he said with a shrug.

Tina looked to the ground and considered his proposal. She pursed her lips. She slowly started to nod and looked back to him. “Okay, what else?” She shifted so she was sitting with her legs crossed.

Wally fiddled with one of the weeds. Obviously, there were things he wanted them to have but knew realistically they couldn’t. For example, he _wanted_ them to be living in a mansion, but he knew that a mansion required money. Which they didn’t have. Stealing a mansion was impossible. Mansions are very heavy, so they would be difficult to move.

He thought back to what else a house usually had. His eyes drifted to the bin with wood and paper. His eyes widened with realization. “A heater!” He pointed a finger at Tina. “We should get a heater!”

Tina nodded, saying, “the smoke from the fire has been bothering me a bit.” She then frowned. “But Wally, we need electricity for a fridge and heater. And aside from the lights, we don’t have that.”

Wally waved a hand. “That’s okay! I fixed a bit of the circuit breaker box outside to get the lights working. I can probably get it working for the rest of the building, especially with your help!” he told her.

Her eyes lit up and she moved so she was sitting on her knees. “Yeah! I don’t know much about circuit breakers, but maybe we could get a few books and I’ll learn!”

He pointed to her enthusiastically. “That’s a great idea! We should get books for more things! Like-” he thought for a second. There was a sink outside. “Like pipes! I need to get that sink outside working, so we could learn how pipes and water work! And the _door.”_ He gestured wildly to the open entrance, a timely cold breeze blowing through. “We need to fix the door! We can get books on… how houses work?”

“House maintenance.”

“House maintenance! Books on house maintenance!”

“And science!” she exclaimed.

“And _science-_ wait, aw, science? Why science? _”_ he said, pouting.

She gave him an affronted look. “Because I love science? We can get books on engineering too, but I’d like to recommend that you read some scientific articles and start learning.”

“But science is hard, and boring,” he whined.

She raised a brow at him. “And engineering isn’t?” He opened his mouth to retort, but she quickly interrupted with, “don’t go on another rant. I’ve had two of those today already. I do think you should start learning science, though. It _is_ what gave you your powers. It’d be worth the look. Come on,” she stood up from the ground, “let’s go make a list of everything we need.” She walked over to the pile of blankets, where they also kept a few notebooks and pencils.

“Alright,” Wally said, eager to brainstorm other objects they needed. Even though Tina was going to start making him learn boring old science.

** March 25th – Wally was outside the warehouse, fixing the circuit breaker box. **

Wally stood in front of the breaker box. A screwdriver sat between his teeth and his brow was narrowed in concentration. Currently his hands were busy clicking a new circuit breaker into place. When it clicked, he grabbed the pliers that were sitting on a nearby wooden stool. Next to the pliers and other tools sat an open book. A guide to property maintenance, that was currently open to the chapter on electricity. Wally took the pliers and gently guided the wires back into place. Then, he plucked the screwdriver from between his teeth and tightened the screw. He surveyed his work for a moment before nodding and walking away. He made his way into the warehouse.

“Try it now,” he told Tina who stood next to the minifridge, which had its door open. Tina flicked the nearby switch. The inside of the fridge lit up. Wally grinned wide while Tina let out a delighted shriek.

“Wally! It’s working!” Tina ran over to him. The two hugged each other tightly and jumped up and down in unison.

“We’re doing it!” Wally cheered.

They stepped apart and Tina grabbed Wally’s shoulders. She shook him enthusiastically. “Do the others! I want to turn the heater on! I’ll stock the fridge while I wait,” she said.

Wally nodded rapidly. “Yeah! I’ll be right back!” She let go of him and he turned to jog back to the box, his smile bright and hopeful.

The last few weeks were spent working on the warehouse, and collecting everything they needed. The day they were clearing out the weeds, they had developed a plan. Theoretically, it would take Wally just a day to get everything. However, the thing is that even with his speed, it would take him an _entire_ day. By the third shop he would have the Flash on his tail. That was the last thing he wanted. So they spaced out each step. They took a walk around the city in their cleanest attire, to avoid getting kicked out, and entered shops to see where items were located. They noted down which places Wally would be stealing from, and what he would be stealing. That day they had also gotten him a new backpack, as the one he had developed holes.

Late in the evening is when Wally went out. Usually minutes before shops were closing, so the only witnesses were the employees and maybe three or five customers. He stole food first. Lots of it. All sugary and full of calories. He needed the energy for the four-week-long heist he was going to pull. He then moved onto appliances. Over the course of a week he had gotten them a minifridge, a heater, a kettle and even a microwave. He stole each of them on different days and from different stores. It was a way to avoid establishing a pattern that the Flash could track. Coincidentally, some of the Rogues had started causing trouble, so the Flash would predictably be busy with them. Wally had successfully avoided him.

While Wally was out stealing, Tina was in alleyways behind stores and searching through dumpsters. There were certain things that they deemed not necessary to steal. Mops, brooms, dustpans and hand tools. Things they could easily find abandoned in the trash.

On the weekend Wally stole cleaning products and brought them back to the warehouse. They had what they needed to properly scrub the warehouse clean, but still no running water. In the case of cleaning your house, running water is the most important variable in the equation.

The next step in their plan was to steal books. Lots and lots of books. On many different subjects. Home maintenance, science, maths, engineering and many more. For this part of the plan, Wally suggested that he steal from another city. Central was well aware of his presence now, as news reports had come out about a robbing speedster. Now that he knew he was there, the Flash would be prepared for him. To avoid confrontation, Wally decided to do something the Flash wouldn’t predict; go somewhere else.

This time he ran early in the morning just as shops were beginning to open. He sprinted to Metropolis and quickly searched the city for the store he needed. Then he ran in and stuffed as many books as he could into his backpack, and carried even more home. That first run he managed to get some books on property maintenance, engineering and others on sciences and maths. He would later make another run to get any books he missed.

Together Wally and Tina managed to get water flowing into the sink outside. The result was a lot of dirt and grime covering them and their clothes. After they were done, they traveled down to the lake with bathers Wally had gotten them. They used the public showers to clean off. When they returned they collapsed on their pile of blankets and pillows and fell asleep, exhausted. The next day, they got to work on cleaning the warehouse.

They woke up early and tossed everything outside. Then they began scrubbing the floors and walls. After they were done they walked away from the warehouse to let the chemicals air out. They walked to the field nearby. A few days prior Tina had found a working stopwatch in a dumpster. They were both eager to use it to test Wally’s powers.

Tina pulled it out and told him to run to the south end of Central City and back. When he came to a skidding stop before her, she told him his time was one minute and two seconds. Compared to what any normal human could do, it was fast. But compared to the Flash, it was slow. Barry Allen could probably run that distance in half that time, maybe even less.

Wally knew in that moment, that if he were to ever have a run in with the Flash he wouldn’t be able to get away. He was just too slow.

Wally stood in front of the circuit breaker box. He first tested the breakers before lightly loosening the screws. He reached in with his fingers and gently tugged on the wires. His finger brushed the copper-

The wire lit up with a spark. An electric shock ran through his finger and up his arm. Wally let out a sharp pained yelp and stumbled backwards. He clutched his hand. He hissed, feeling a dull throb of pain run through his arm. His eyes widened when thin blue lightning appeared and danced up his arm then down the rest of his body. As if he had just taken a gulp of coca cola, he felt a jolt of energy run through him.

“Wally!?” Tina shouted from within the building. She then came running around the corner and towards him. “Wally? Are you alright, what happened?” she asked as she reached him, brow furrowed with worry.

Wally stared at his hand. Whenever his fingers twitched there was a spark of lightning. “The… the wire shocked me,” he said.

“What!?” Tina stepped closer to him. Her worry increased on her face. “Wally, are you okay? The voltages in a circuit breaker-”

“Tina, I’m okay,” he told her, finally sparing her a glance. “I’m okay. I feel… better. Tina, I feel…” he raised his hand and vibrated it. Lightning danced around his blurred skin. “I feel _faster.”_

Tina blinked at him, her worry turning to confusion. She frowned. “Faster? Are- are you sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I don’t know how to explain it… I just feel it.” Like the first time he got his powers, he felt an _itch_ to run. His powers were calling out to him, whispering for him to _run, go, move._ But it was different. It was louder. It was telling him that he could do more now, move _quicker_. Faster. _Go, now, move, run._

Tina gave him a slow and calculating look. Her face then became shadowed with determination. With a nod she pulled the stopwatch out of her pocket. “Let’s test it then.”

Wally nodded to her, dusted off his hands and settled into a starting position. “Ready?” he asked her.

Tina held up the stopwatch, resting her thumb over the button.

“… Go!”

Wally sped off. He left a cloud of dust and a trail of lightning behind him. He felt the cool breeze hit his face and card through his hair. He felt his body bursting with an energy he’d never felt when he ran. His lightning, which buzzed and crackled around him, was now a blinding blue instead of the usual shimmering yellow. He wasn’t sure what was happening. But he was certain that it felt _awesome._

He reached the south end and raced back. He came to a stumbling stop. His red hair was brushed back and wild, his cheeks flushed from the cold and he had a bright smile on his face.

Tina hit the button. She gasped. “Forty seconds!” she told him.

His jaw dropped. “Forty seconds!?”

“That’s twenty-two seconds less than last time! You _are_ faster,” she marveled, looking to him with awe in her eyes.

He jumped, throwing his hands into the air and letting out a ‘whoop.’ “I’m faster!” He celebrated. Then he frowned and looked over to the breaker box. “From being electrocuted?”

Tina followed his gaze and hummed, thinking for a moment. Like a lightbulb turning on, her eyes lit up. “You said you got your powers from lightning, right?” He nodded. “Well, lightning’s an electric current. Maybe adding onto the original source creates more energy. Like… charging a battery,” she hypothesized.

“So you’re saying the more I’m electrocuted…”

“The faster you get,” she concluded.

Wally gasped. Before he could move to test this theory Tina had lunged forward and grabbed his shoulders. “Wait! Don’t be _stupid._ We have no clue what your limit is. You could eat too much electricity and you could die. We should… test it over time. Tomorrow,” she told him with a stern frown.

“Aw. But Tina. Speed,” he whined, gesturing to the box.

She shook her head. “This is dangerous, Wally. Use your brain. I know it’s a good one. We have no idea what this means. We’ll figure it out _tomorrow._ For now we still have work to do.” She raised her brow at him expectantly.

He pouted. Then he sighed with a roll of his eyes. “Fine,” he said.

“Good.” She let go of his shoulders. “Now, how about you go stock the fridge and I’ll work on the circuit breakers-”

“Tina!”

“I do not trust you to not zap yourself. Now go,” she ordered, pointing to the doorway.

Wally huffed, but began stomping towards the warehouse. “You’re no fun,” he complained over his shoulder.

“Better safe than stupid!” she called to him. He let out an exaggerated groan in response. Tina giggled and walked over to the circuit breakers, then began to read through the book sat atop the stool.

** August 11th – Wally and Tina were walking around the city. **

Wally and Tina strolled down the sidewalk, sharing a box of nerds between them while they debated Wally’s personal opinions. The day was a pleasantly warm one. Blue sky with thick white clouds that drifted and curled along it. The sun bore its heating rays down onto the earth, but a cool breeze combated the heat. The city was filled with the noise of people bustling around and cars making their way through traffic. Where Wally and Tina walked was a street of cheap stores and poor artist-run-initiative galleries.

“- all I’m saying is that telling me you’d be a sith because you like the colour red, is not a good and justifiable reason,” Tina argued.

Wally raised his shoulders, a look of disbelief on his face. He rebutted, “and why not? I like the colour red, I’d want a red lightsaber. Only siths have red lightsabers, therefore I’d need to be a sith in order to have a red lightsaber.” He mimicked dropping a mic as a finish to his point.

Tina shook her head and waved a finger at him. “No. Nope. Completely disagree. See, red is a _colour._ A colour is not inherently evil. I’m sure there’s been a jedi who had a red lightsaber,” she said.

“Name one.” Wally crossed his arms. Tina walked a few more steps before coming to a stop. She stared at the ground, deep in thought. Wally watched her for about ten seconds before pointing at her, saying victoriously, “aha! You can’t. I’m a sith because my favourite colour’s red.”

Tina sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. “Just because there wasn’t a jedi with a red lightsaber in the movies doesn’t mean-”

“Why are we even having this argument!” Wally interrupted. “The movies suck, anyways. Doesn’t matter if I want to be a sith-”

“Oh my _god,_ Wally!” Tina threw her hands up with a roll of her eyes. It annoyed her to no end that he was the one that brought up the conversation, and now he’s questioning why they’re having it. The nerve.

She went to give a retort when she was interrupted. On the other end of the street sounded cars honking and people yelling. The two turned their gaze to the commotion. What they saw was a girl weaving through cars as she was chased down by an adult male. The girl looked to be around Wally’s age. She had tanned sandy skin, light brown hair and hazel eyes that glowed orange in the summer sun. Those same eyes were narrowed as she sprinted down the street. She held a lump wrapped in foil in her hand. The man yelled obscenities at her as he dodged cars.

Wally glanced to Tina, a mischievous glint in his eyes. As if she were reading his thoughts, a cautious and warning expression settled on her face. “Wally, don’t. You know I hate running-”

“Hey!” Wally shouted to the girl that was quickly advancing towards them. He waved a hand high, grabbing her attention. “Throw it over and follow us!” He gestured to the wrapped package. The girl gave them both an assessing look. Her eyes seemed to brighten with recognition. She raised her arm. Tina groaned and bent her knees, getting ready. Wally grinned brightly as he raised both his hands. The girl threw the package and it landed in his palms with a thud. Wally and Tina turned and launched into a sprint.

“Knock that display over!” Wally called over his shoulder. He pointed to a display of greeting cards outside a two-dollar store. The girl pushed it to the ground. The action caused people to come out of the shop to investigate, forming a small crowd that blocked the man’s path. The girl smiled. Wally laughed joyously. Tina groaned in annoyance.

Wally and Tina turned a corner, heading down their usual escape route in the area. The girl caught up to them and Wally grinned at her.

“I believe this is yours.” He tossed her the package, which she easily caught. Wally pointed to an upcoming alleyway and told her, “this way!” The three of them turned into the alley, hearing the man shouting in the distance behind them. Tina jumped onto the dumpster in the alley. She turned and helped Wally up, then the girl. Wally climbed and jumped over the wire fence pressed against the dumpster. The girl followed his lead. The two landed and ran to the other end of the alleyway, Tina close behind them. When they reached the end, they turned to see the man run into the other entrance.

He bent over, placing his hands on his knees and huffing breaths for a few moments before looking to them. He raised a fist in their direction and roared, “fuckin’ _street rats!”_

Wally cupped his hands around his mouth and called back, “better luck next time, buddy!” while the girl blew a raspberry in his direction. Tina placed her hands where a stitch was steadily forming in her side. She shook her head and laughed breathlessly.

The man growled and waved a dismissive hand at them. Slowly, he turned and walked out of the alleyway while still catching his breath.

Tina winced as she poked at the stitch. “I hate running,” she complained.

“I love running!” Wally piped up, placing his hands on his hips with a wide grin.

Tina huffed. “That’s because you’re good at it.” They both snickered at their inside joke.

“Thanks for the help,” the girl said as she stepped up to them. Wally nodded while Tina waved a hand, still recovering. The girl held up the wrapped package. “It’s a sandwich. Did you two want a share?” she offered.

Tina shook her head. “Nah, it’s fine. It’s all yours. We already ate,” she told her. She stood up straight and took a deep breath, feeling the stitch begin to dissipate. “Why’d you trust us? We could’ve just taken the sandwich and ran.”

The girl lazily pointed a finger at them. “Wally and Tina, right?”

They both looked to each other. After a moment of stunned silence the two said in unison, “yeah.”

The girl shrugged. “I’ve seen you around. Heard a few stories, too. You guys help other street kids. I thought you were worthy enough to trust.” She waved the foil-wrapped sandwich. “I was right. I’m Ashley,” she introduced herself.

Tina and Wally slowly looked at each other, exchanging looks of mild disbelief. Then, Wally said, “you want some nerds?” and held the box out to the girl.

Ashley blinked down at the bright pink and purple packaging. “I… don’t think I’ve ever had that before,” she admitted.

Wally let out a shocked gasp. “Never had nerds before? That’s a crime!” Beside him, Tina nodded in agreement. Wally stepped closer and placed the box in Ashley’s hands. “These are yours now,” he said, a determined gleam in his eyes.

Ashley did her best impression of a raised brow at him. Though, slowly she smiled and wrapped her fingers around the box. “Cool. Thanks.” She glanced between the two of them. “What are you doing for the rest of the day?” she asked.

“Probably just walk around and debate Star Wars,” he told her.

Ashley gave a blank stare. “Star Wars?”

Wally gasped again, eyes blown wide and mouth dropped open. “You’ve never seen Star Wars.” He leaned towards her and pointed a finger. “People will tell you that’s a bad thing. Don’t listen to those people. Those movies are trash,” he said.

“Wally!” Tina snapped, looking exasperated. “The only reason you hate Star Wars is because everyone else _likes_ it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being different, Tina!” Wally argued.

Ashley let out a giggle. “You two are funny.” Wally beams at that and Tina mutters a ‘thanks, we try.’ “Okay,” Ashley dropped the nerds box into one of her pockets and begins to unwrap her sandwich, “tell me all about ‘Star Wars’.”

The three begin to walk down the sidewalk, and Wally begins to explain, “okay! So, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, which makes no sense…”

** September 7th – Wally, Tina and Ashley had just finished eating lunch. **

“Who’s that guy?” Wally asked, pointing a finger across the street. Tina lowered his finger with a scolding gaze. She reminded him that it’s rude to point at people. He pouted at her but turned his attention back to Ashley.

Ashley looked to where he pointed. Across the street stood a lone adolescent boy. He had dark copper hair, a tall stature and was dressed in an old tattered hoodie, a pair of jeans and worn out sneakers. He walked aimlessly along the pavement, occasionally kicking at a stone in his path.

“Mason Trollbridge,” Ashley said. “He’s lonely a lot, think he likes it that way. I tried to speak to him a couple of times, but he just tells me to go away. He’s kind of mean.” After she was done talking, she took a long slurp of the lemonade she held in her hand.

Wally hummed while Tina nodded. “He can be a bit of an asshole,” she agreed. The younger two of the three nodded their heads. Their eyes trailed after Mason as he made his way up the street, then disappeared around the corner with another kick to the ground.

“Strange guy,” Wally commented as they turned and walked the opposite direction.

It was midday. They had just finished a warm lunch that they’d bought with money they pickpocketed. It left a satisfying warmth that sat in their bellies. They were now walking around the city, discussing whatever subject came to mind. The air was crisp with a nippy chill, one of the first resulting from the transition from summer to autumn.

Since Wally and Tina first met Ashley, they had begun to hang out with her daily. Similar to when Wally met Tina, the three kept bumping into each other until they agreed to meet in front of a deli store each morning. Eight days ago the two of them had taken Ashley to their warehouse. They showed her around and offered that she could stay. She would live with them and have a safe place to sleep at night. She had accepted, breaking into tears when they made her hot chocolate and let her lay on the pile of blankets and pillows.

Since then, the three of them were constantly together. They had grown close. Wally had begun to view Ashley as his other, much more annoying sister. The amount of times they’d get caught up in an argument or slap battle was ridiculous. Since Tina was the oldest, the responsibility of the mediator fell to her. She also took care of them. She made sure all three of them were eating right, especially Wally since he needed so much. She made sure they avoided the most dangerous parts of the city. And when it came to making plans of theft, Tina was in charge. She made sure they had everything they needed to survive.

Ashley had learned of Wally’s powers shortly after she started living with them. Wally had _tried_ to hold back on using them. Whenever he needed to run, he’d wait until the two girls were asleep. He’d then wiggle out of the pile and speed off into the night. One day he slipped up. Tina was preparing a drink when she accidentally dropped the glass. Wally sped over and picked it up before it hit the ground. When the world returned to normal he saw Ashley openly gaping at him. All three of them were silent until Tina let out a quiet, “uhh, surprise?”

Ashley had, understandably, freaked out. In a positive way. She shot up from where she was sitting and screamed. And pointed at Wally. And jumped up and down. She had exclaimed, “that is so _freakin’_ cool!” She hadn’t asked as many questions as Tina had, but instead only asked Wally to, “do it again! Do it again!” Wally had run circles around her, to which she squealed in delight. She then requested that he give her a piggyback ride at superspeed. Tina had immediately shut the idea down, but Wally promised Ashley that he’d give her one, one day. In return, Ashley promised him that his secret was safe with her.

The whole ordeal had caused the three to grow even more close.

“What do you think other street kids think of us?” Wally said, looking up at the blue sky spotted with chunks of grey.

The two girls considered their answers for a moment. “I think they’re suspicious of us,” said Tina, fiddling with the end of her hoodie sleeve. “I mean, we help others a lot, but we also disappear at night. And we stay relatively clean and well fed for street kids.”

Wally gave her a look of alarm while Ashley made a contemplative noise. “Do you think we should start sleeping in the city at night? Throw them off?” he asked.

Tina shrugged and shook her head. “Nah, I think it’s fine. Besides,” she wrapped both her arms around their shoulders and pulled them to her sides, “if anyone tries to follow us we can just read books on how to beat people up.” Wally beamed at that while Ashley muttered ‘I hate reading.’

After a moment of silence Ashley piped up, “I think they think we’re cool.”

“That’s because we are,” Wally said, holding up his hand. Ashley leaned over and the two high-fived, then high-fived Tina when she offered her hands. The three of them laughed, hugging each other briefly before walking again. They continued down the street, talking quietly amongst themselves.

As they came to a stop at a red crossing, screams sounded from the distance. They rapidly grew louder. Tina instinctively held Wally and Ashley close to her. Then, speeding down the street on a path of ice came Captain Cold and Heatwave. Both had matching smirks. Heatwave carried three duffel bags that left a trail of paper money behind. The three kids quickly backed up as the two rogues approached. Wally felt his veins buzz with energy, ready to get himself and the others out of the situation.

When Cold breezed past them, the previously chill air became teeth-chattering cold. The small group of three held each other tighter. Then something happened that chilled Wally to his core.

Flash came running up the street.

In a blaze and blur of yellow lightning, Flash sped around the street. He zipped from place to place, avoiding Cold’s trail of ice as best he could. Before he knew what was happening, time slowed down around Wally. Where everyone was previously sprinting away, they were now moving at a snail’s pace. He saw Flash running at normal speed. Flash’s eyes were narrowed in concentration, his gaze straight ahead and locked on Cold and Heatwave.

Flash glanced over at him. Flash’s eyes widened. He mis stepped and slipped on a sheet of ice. He went tumbling to the ground.

Time sped up to normal. Screams echoed around Wally as everyone in the street scattered. He stumbled backwards, Tina and Ashley gripping at his arms. Flash’s head jerked up and he looked directly at Wally. His breaths came out in huffs, an expression of total shock and confusion etched on his face.

“Wally?” he asked in a strangled voice.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wally saw Tina and Ashley look to him. He didn’t look back. He could only stare, frozen, at Flash. A high, piercing scream went off in the distance.

Flash looked towards the sound. “Shit,” he hissed. He stood up from the ground and held a hand out. His tone was urgent as he pleaded, “stay here, okay? Please. Don’t run, stay right here. I’ll be back.” With that, Flash sped off with a crack of lightning.

As soon as he was gone, Tina and Ashley moved to stand in front of Wally. Tina gripped at his shoulders and demanded, “Wally, what was that? How does the Flash know you? … Wally?” Her expression fell to one of concern as she got a closer look at his face.

Wally’s eyes were wide and blank, staring through Tina and everything behind her. His skin was deathly pale. His body was unmoving, arm limply going along with Ashley when she shook it. He was unresponsive.

Wally was paralyzed with panic. The Flash had seen him. Barry Allen had seen him. He had gone this long without anyone, not his parents or his aunt or Barry, seeing him. He should’ve known his luck was going to run out. Barry had seen him and he was going to tell his parents. They were going to make him go back home. The Flash was going to come back any moment and… the Flash was going to come back any moment! Wally was wasting time just standing there.

With a sudden jerk of movement, Wally turned and disappeared in a trail of lightning and blurred colours.

He ran all the way back to the warehouse. He threw himself to the ground, collapsing in a heap of rushed breaths and shakiness. His body vibrated with the sheer anxiety buzzing through him. He curled up on the ground and hoped that the Flash wouldn’t find him.

Two hours later Tina and Ashley were hurrying into the building. They called out to him, to where he was sitting in the corner with blankets curled around him. The two girls approached and settled down on the pile next to him. He kept his gaze on his lap instead of looking at them.

“Wally… are you okay?” Tina asked, her brow furrowed with worry. Wally shook his head. “Okay.” Tina glanced at Ashley, who shrugged. “Do you want to tell me what happened back there, Wall-man? You… the Flash said your name and you ran. Why?”

“He came back, looking for you,” Ashley said. “He asked us where you went.” Wally threw Ashley a look of frightened alarm. “We told him we didn’t know what he was talking about. That we didn’t know you.” Wally sighed with relief. “We figured that if you ran from him, you didn’t want to talk to him.” She shrugged.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

Tina sighed. “Wally, listen. We won’t… you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to. But we’re worried. Did you… anger the Flash?”

He looked between them. He then pushed the blankets off himself with a sigh. “No. At least, I don’t think so?” He began to fiddle with a blanket as he explained, “I know him. I know who the Flash is. He’s my aunt’s boyfriend. Don’t know if they’re still together, but…” he shrugged. “I accidentally found out who he was and I asked how he got his powers. He told me and… I recreated the situation and got his powers. Then I ran.”

Tina blew out a breath while Ashley stared at Wally, stunned. “Okay… that’s a lot to take in.” Ashley hummed in agreement. “So he’s angry that you ran?” she guessed.

Wally huffed with annoyance, fists punching once on the blankets. He looked up at them. “No! He’s not- maybe he is. I don’t know.” He rubbed nervously at his arm. “My parents aren’t the nicest one could have. They fought a lot. If they weren’t taking their anger out on each other then they turned to me. Not physically, but…” Wally’s eyes began to brim with tears. “They yelled at me a lot. Told me I couldn’t do anything right. Everything I did was wrong. I was worthless. If they hated me then I didn’t see any point in staying. So I left.”

He gouged their reactions. They stared at him with expressions of shared shock. Tina moved to say something but Wally quickly interrupted. He ranted, “and if the Flash finds me then he’s gonna be all responsible and take me back home.” His face reddened as tears began to slide down his cheeks. “And I don’t want to go home! I like it here, with you two!” His lips wobbled. “I know he’s going to take me home because- because adults are _stupid_ and they always make the wro-ong decisions and he’s an adult so he’s probably stupid-”

Tina wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him. Ashley quickly followed her lead and soon they were wrapping him up in a hug. With a sniffle Wally relaxed into their grip and rested his head on Tina’s shoulder.

“We won’t let him take you. Never. No one’s going to take you from us,” Tina assured him. Ashley nodded furiously against Wally’s shoulder. “We stick together, and we keep each other safe. No one will separate us.” With a sob, Wally curled into the hug and let himself cry.

** October 22nd – The three of them exit a local candy shop. **

The bell jingled above the door as Tina pushed it open. She waved to the owner of the store as Wally and Ashley ducked under her arm and exited. As Tina stepped out on the sidewalk after them, Wally turned around so his back was to Ashley. She unzipped his backpack and dug around a bit before pulling out a notepad and a pencil. She tossed both items to Tina and zipped the bag back up. As the three began to walk, Ashley wrapped her hands around Tina’s arm.

“I want that giant swirl lollipop,” she said as Tina wrote down a list on the notepad.

Tina shook her head. “No, that’s way too much sugar, Ashley,” she told her.

Ashley pouted. “But Wally gets to have that much sugar!” she complained.

“That’s because Wally needs it,” Tina retorted. She frowned down at the notepad and scribbled something out.

On the other side of Tina, Wally leaned forward and stuck his tongue out at Ashley. The girl sneered back at him and reached around Tina to smack his arm. Wally yelped and move to retaliate. Tina stopped him by grabbing his wrist and lowering it. Wally huffed and opted to glare at Ashley, who blew a raspberry in his direction.

The three of them were currently planning a two-week-long heist. They were running low on food and needed to replace some of the products around the warehouse. Plus, there were some new Littlest Pet Shoptm toys out that Ashley wanted. The day, a cold one with a steady drizzle of rain running through, had been spent visiting shops and writing down what they needed. The next week, Wally would spend it running through the city and getting everything.

“Okay, the chocolate with the highest amount of sugar is on the middle shelf near the end. Make sure to get those first so you can eat them through the rest of your trip,” Tina told Wally, who nodded along. Tina tapped the pencil on the paper as she continued, “I’ve written down everything that you should get from that store. Then you move onto Safeway and get everything else from there. Last place you need to go to is Metropolis to get what Ashley wants, but you’re going to run there later in the evening and… wait.” Tina came to a stop, looking up and squinting her eyes. Wally and Ashley stopped beside her with matching frowns.

“Can you guys hear that?” Tina asked, holding up the notepad.

The younger two looked around and strained their ears. Then they heard it. Crying. Light sniffles, hiccups and sobs coming from up ahead. The three looked at each other in alert.

“Sounds like someone our age,” Wally whispered.

“Could be a trap,” Ashley theorized. “I heard some guys down by the train station yesterday, talking about how people get lured by children crying. Then they get kidnapped.”

Tina frowned. She stared ahead, the three of them listening to the crying continue. She sighed. “Wally, would you mind checking it out? If anything happens, you get out of there immediately,” she said. Wally nodded, determination flaring in his eyes. In situations like these, Wally was the best option to scout ahead as he could escape the situation in a blink of an eye.

He walked down the street until the crying got loudest. It led him to an alleyway. He peeked his head in. He found himself looking at a small figure, curled up on the ground and crying. From what he could see, they had dark hair and brown, grime stained skin. They wore dirty, hole-filled clothes. The alley was dark. Shadowed by the fire escape that climbed up the apartment building next to it. On the ground littered a wet pile of torn clothes and blankets. The concrete was stained with dark shapes of splattered and pooled liquid. Wally frowned.

He took a step forward and quietly called, “hello?”

As soon as he made the first syllable, the figure let out a gasp and shot their gaze towards him. Wally assumed them a girl, her eyes blown wide and shaking as tears streamed down her face. She scrambled backwards, sobbing.

“N-no, no no no please don’t! Lea-ave me a-alone! Please!” she cried, a hand held out to him.

Wally put his hands up, shocked at her abrupt reaction. “It’s okay! I’m not gonna hurt you! My name’s Wally, Wally West, I’m a kid like you! I’m ten, how old are you?” he asked. He stayed where he was.

She sobbed a few more times, looking at him through scared and uncertain eyes. “I’m-I-I’m… ten, I’m ten,” she managed to say.

Wally sent her a smile. “We’re the same age, then! Do you have a name?” She shakily nodded. “Would you like to give it to me?” He spoke slowly and clearly, careful to keep his body’s movements to a minimum.

She stared at him for a moment. Her head was tilted and she seemed to be debating whether or not she could trust him. “C-Connie,” she eventually said. Her sobs were steadily dissolving into sniffles.

“Connie?” he repeated to be sure. She nodded again. “Connie. Okay, Connie, can I come closer? I want to make sure you’re okay.”

She went silent for a few seconds, thinking. She then pointed to a spot on the ground. About three feet away from her. “Stop there,” she requested.

Wally nodded and slowly walked to where she pointed. Then he knelt down on the ground so they were eye-to-eye. “Connie. Can I ask what happened? Why you’re so upset?” he asked gently. He made sure to keep his expression and body language open and honest, so she could read him easily.

Her lips trembled and she let out another sob. “M-my parents,” she whimpered.

Wally’s brow narrowed and he felt a wave of anger wash over him. “Did they do something to you?” he questioned, assuming the worst.

She shook her head rapidly. “No! No, no… no, they’re… they-the-they _died.”_ She started sobbing again, folding her legs and burying her face in her arms.

Wally felt a wave of sympathy wash over him. And guilty embarrassment. What was he supposed to say to that? Words evaded him in that moment. Her parents died… she’s probably been all alone out here. How long has she been alone? And how exactly had her parents died? Wally glanced down to think of how to approach her. His eyes focused in on the dark stains on the concrete. He realized that they had a red tint to them. His eyes widened and horror struck him. Was that… was that blood? Now that he thought about it, there was a heavy, metallic scent in the alley.

Had her parents died here? Had her parents been murdered here? And how long ago had they died? The stains looked so fresh…

Wally shot up to his feet. Connie gasped at his sudden movement.

“I-” Wally glanced behind him. Tina. He needed Tina. She would know what to do. “I, Connie, I have two friends, okay? They can help. Can I go- can I get them? Is that okay?” he asked, rushed. The fear grew on Connie’s face at the prospect of more people. “It’s okay! It’s- they’re the same age as us! I’m gonna go get them.” He turned and hurried out of the alleyway. His heart hammered in his chest.

How horrific it must have been to witness the death of another. How terrified that little girl would have been in that moment. Her own parents. Those who gave her life. Murdered before her innocent eyes. It was a trauma that would follow her for the rest of her life.

Tina and Ashley were waiting for him around the corner. “Wally,” Tina sighed with relief upon seeing him. She placed her hands on his arms. “What happened? Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She frowned at him.

“I’m fine. There’s- there’s a girl. Her name’s Connie. But- Tina, her parents. The- the floor,” he stammered, gesturing to the concrete.

Tina nodded along as he talked. “Okay. Okay, Wally go with Ashley,” she gently nudged him over to Ashley, who took his hands and squeezed them. “You two stay close behind me. I’ll check on her,” she told them.

Together the three of them approached the alley. Tina laid her eyes upon the girl, then scanned the ground around her. As she studied the dark, red tinted stains, she realized what they were. She gasped, slapping a hand to her mouth. Behind her, Ashley’s grip tightened on Wally. Tina gulped. She was the oldest. She had to be strong right now. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She slowly approached Connie, who was looking up at them with terrified eyes.

“Connie? I’m Tina. I’m fourteen. That’s Ashley,” she pointed behind her where Ashley gave a small wave, “and she’s eleven.” Tina looked back to Connie. “Can you tell me how long you’ve been out here, Connie?” she asked, stopping a meter away from the girl.

Connie thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t know,” she whimpered. She glanced around the alleyway. “My mum and dad… we got attacked. They told me to run, so I did. I ran. And I came back and- and… and.” She sobbed. She buried her face back in her arms.

Tina looked back to the other two. They all shared a look of concern and cluelessness. Then Ashley stepped away from Wally and came to stand beside Tina. “You shouldn’t be alone out here. It’s dangerous,” she said to the crying girl, her tone firm.

“Ashley,” Tina scolded while grabbing a hold of Wally’s hand. “She’s scared enough already.”

“But I’m right,” insisted Ashley. “You two were barely surviving until you found each other. _I_ was barely surviving before I found you guys.” She turned to Connie. “You should come with us. We’re safe.”

Connie raised her head and gave them all a look of uncertainty. Tina sent her a reassuring smile. “She could’ve said it a bit gentler, but Ashley’s right. We won’t force you to come with us, but it is safer than being alone. We’ll make sure nothing like that ever happens to you again,” she said.

“Y-you will?” Connie asked, hope beginning to fill her eyes.

Wally stepped forward and nodded firmly. “We stick together and we take care of each other. We won’t let _anything_ happen to you.” Connie glanced at Tina and Ashley, who both nodded in confirmation.

A moment of silence passed. Then, with a sob Connie lunged forward and latched her arms around Tina’s middle. At first a jolt of panic went through the three of them. They assumed she was attacking. When she merely sobbed against Tina, they calmed down with a collective sigh. Tina bent down and picked her up. She adjusted her so she was sitting on her hip, her head resting against her shoulder.

The three looked to each other. They wondered what to do next as Connie sobbed.

“We should take her to the warehouse,” Tina suggested. The two gave her a look of disbelief. “I know, we agreed to only let people that we trust to go there, but guys. It’s wet, it’s cold and it’s only getting colder. She’s even smaller than you, Wally. She needs a dry and safe place to stay. She needs to be fed.”

Wally and Ashley found that they could not argue with that. Tina was right. The warehouse was the safest place for Connie to be right now. They walked out of the alley. Tina held Connie, while Wally and Ashley walked on either side of her. They forgot about the rest of the day’s duties, and began the trek out of the city and to the warehouse.

** November 11th – The three of them plus Connie stand on a street corner. **

Wally spread his arms and exaggeratingly breathed in deep through his nose. “Ahh, do you smell that?” He sent a grin to his companions. Ashley, Tina and their new addition, Connie. Connie, who was standing slightly behind Tina and holding tight to her jacket, but was giggling at Wally’s antics. Wally looked to the street, lined with high-fashion shops and full of high-fashion people. Wally rubbed his hands together. _“Opportunity,”_ he whispered.

Ashley snorted and shoved at his arm. “Okay, don’t get too excited. You’ll draw attention to us,” she said.

Wally turned back to face them. He gestured to the street. “How can I not be excited right now? There’s so many pockets here full of shiny things and I cannot _wait_ to get my hands on them.” He emphasized this by clapping his hands together and rubbing them again.

Tina laughed. “You can be excited, just don’t be so loud about it,” she chided.

Wally rolled his eyes but agreed, “fine. I’ll tone it down.” He looked back to the street, letting himself slowly scan the area. Over the past couple of months, pickpocketing had become somewhat of a hobby for Wally. He and the girls participated in it when it was necessary. For example they needed money for fresh hot food, so they robbed people of their wallets. It was an essential act. But for Wally, it had become just as fun as running.

There was an art to pickpocketing. An art that Wally had learnt through reading, and through speaking with other street kids and older conmen. It was a combination of technical and psychological knowledge. It required just as much focus as engineering, and science. It demanded someone to be both quiet and quick. And Wally, well he was good at being both of those things. Wally loved it.

Usually when it came to doing this for fun, Wally did it alone. The girls didn’t see the appeal in doing it just to get no outcome. So they never joined him. However today was Wally’s birthday. And Wally’s birthday wish was to go on a pickpocketing spree.

“Alright,” Tina said, “you guys ready?” She placed her hand on Connie’s shoulder and hugged her to her side.

Ashley nodded while Wally replied, “I’m always ready!”

“What are you doing?” a voice sounded.

The girls turned around while Wally stepped to the side to see who it was. Standing there was Mason Trollbridge. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his coat. He was considering them with a quizzical brow.

Tina sighed. Connie scurried to be completely behind Tina. Ashley crossed her arms. Wally frowned. “Well, if it isn’t Mason Trollbridge,” Ashley greeted.

Mason narrowed his eyes at her. “You sound like a high school bully in a Disney movie,” he said.

Ashley fumed. “You wanna switch that statement around and say it to yourself?”

“You wanna answer my question?” he retorted.

“No,” she barked. Beside her, Wally glared furiously at the older boy.

Mason scoffed. He turned his gaze to Tina. He spared Connie a glance before saying to the older girl, “why do you hang out with a bunch of nine-year-olds?”

“I’m eleven!” Ashley protested, her hands curling into fists.

“And it’s my birthday! So I’m eleven as well,” Wally added. Mason sent the both of them an impassive expression. He clearly wasn’t interested in what they had to say.

Tina gestured at them to let her handle this. She tilted her chin up towards Mason. “Why do you care what we’re doing? Bored, are we?”

Mason shrugged, eyes darting off to the side. “Maybe,” he said vaguely. He looked back to the two eleven-year-olds and nodded at them. “What’s with the nice clothes?” he asked. The two of them were wearing high-quality clothes that Wally had stolen for this exact reason. Nice pants and shirt for him, nice dress for Ashley. Clean shoes and neat coats for both of them.

Wally studied Mason’s face for a moment. Years of watching his parents and noticing patterns in their expressions led him to become well practiced in reading people. Living on the streets, he found that it was easier to read kids’ expressions. Adults were usually better at hiding their emotions.

What he saw in Mason was that he was trying to be angry, tough. But he couldn’t stop a little sadness seeping through. His eyebrows were knitted downwards, but occasionally twitched upwards. His mouth was downturned but Wally could tell that he wasn’t gritting his teeth. He was also avoiding direct eye contact. No, Mason Trollbridge was not angry. He was sad.

All four of them had been there. Alone. Sad. Aimlessly, hopelessly wandering the streets until something interesting happened. Wally remembered, clear as day, what that was like. Of course, he nor the girls were as rude as Mason was, but in that moment he had an epiphany that maybe Mason’s anger was to hide other emotions.

He stepped forward. “We’re going on a pickpocketing spree,” he told him. Mason’s eyebrows jumped up. He was surprised that Wally had actually told him anything. “The rich will get immediately suspicious and pissed off if a dirty street rat bumped into them. Gotta look nice for the job.” He waved a dismissive hand at Mason. “You can watch, or you can join, or you can leave. Your choice. But it’s my birthday and I’m doing what I want. You’re not going to stop me.”

Silence.

The girls looked to Wally with shock. Mason regarded him with total surprise. Then he looked impressed. He gestured to Wally in a ‘go right ahead’ manner. The younger redhead nodded to him then turned to Ashley.

“Ready to be my shade?” he asked her, holding out his hand.

“Yeah…” Ashley side-eyed Mason slowly before she took his hand. Wally sent her a grin, then the two rushed off into the busy street.

Tina considered Mason. “Okay, well if you’re going to watch you might as well follow me. I’m kind of the boss in the situation,” she said. She looked down to Connie and took her hand. “Come on, Connie,” she uttered, smiling down at her. She began to walk off, and with one last look at Wally, Mason followed after her.

The three of them walked along the edges of the street, keeping an eye on Wally and Ashley. As they walked, Tina explained what they were doing. Tina kept an eye out for ‘marks’, people she can tell are easy targets to steal from. When she found one, she’d signal to Wally. The speedster would locate the mark, then he and Ashley would make their move. Their move consisted of them running down the street, holding hands and laughing until they deliberately crashed into someone. Ashley would draw their attention to her by apologizing profusely. While they were distracted, Wally would pick what he wanted. A watch around the wrist, a ring, a brooch or even their wallet. As he did that, Ashley also made sure to keep an eye out for anyone watching, or she’d cover Wally’s move with one of her own. A step to the side that obstructed Wally’s hand, moving her own hands to obstruct Wally’s, etc.

After about half an hour of this, they met up with the other three on a corner. Wally’s pockets were full and his grin was wide.

“Huh, you guys are actually really good at that,” Mason said.

“Thanks! It’s easy to be good at something when it’s so much fun!” Wally rocked on the balls of his feet. “You wanna join us on our getaway?” he offered. “We gotta get out of here quick before they realize their things are gone.”

Mason gave a small, hesitant smile. “Sure. Why not? Sounds like fun.” Wally smiled brightly at him.

Wally took Connie’s other hand, and the five of them began to make their way down the street. They walked at a brisk pace, wanting to get away fast but not wanting to draw attention to themselves. As they walked, Wally and Ashley began to tell the others about some of the rude encounters they had, laughing along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! I did it! Weekly update! 
> 
> Again, sorry if the chapter was a boring one. The next one will be much more exciting, I promise! In chapter 3, Wally will don a suit!
> 
> I forgot to put it in the last chapter, but you can find me on tumblr over at https://lunmelia.tumblr.com/


	3. 2006 - Wally's criminal identity part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason starts living with Wally and the three girls, Wally makes himself a suit, gives himself a name and is approached by the Rogues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for a bit of a late update! This chapter ended up being a lot longer than expected. That's also why this chapter is going to be split into two parts. So, sorry to people who might be waiting for Dick to show up, looks like he won't be part of the story until chapter 6 now. This chapter will also be shorter than the first two because of the split!

** 2006 **

** January 6th – The five friends trek across a field and towards the woods. **

“I would just like to say that my suspicion that you guys are leading me into the woods to kill me, has risen to 100 percent,” Mason said as he trailed behind the other four.

“The guys by the train station told me a few stories where that actually happened,” Ashley piped up, smiling as she slammed her feet into the snow and listened to the crunch.

Mason narrowed his eyes at her, growing even more uneasy. “You saying that is not helping. At all.”

Tina frowned at Ashley and agreed, “yeah. And, Ashley, you need to stop listening to those guys. They’ll say anything to scare the living daylights out of you.” She kept her voice quiet so she wouldn’t disturb Connie, who was dozing off in her arms. The younger girl shifted and mumbled something in her sleep, to which Tina shushed her.

With a snicker, Wally jogged so he was ahead of the group. He turned, walking backwards as he grinned at Mason and told him, “don’t worry, it’s just up ahead. Come on!” He waved his hand, then turned back and ran up the small hill before them. Mason squinted his eyes but followed after him nonetheless.

The four of them had known Mason for more than two months now. Their friendship was slow starting. Mason had stayed with them for the remainder of Wally’s birthday, but had split once the sun set. After that they began to greet him whenever they saw him, but he’d only wave in reply and wouldn’t talk to them. He seemed reluctant to their company. After a few days he had started to wait for them when they called out to him, but his contributions to the conversation were short. And he always left after a few minutes. Then, one day he greeted them.

He had approached them and asked if he could spend the day with them, to which they quickly accepted. Wally, more enthusiastically. Since making the conclusion that Mason was as lonely as Wally was when he first got his powers, he was determined to make sure he wasn’t lonely anymore. Mason tagged along as they walked around the city. He steadily began to speak up during their discussions, even laughing a few times. He began to relax around them. Soon enough, hanging out had become a regular occurrence. The five of them would spend the day together after either Mason found them or they found him. It was a slow progress, but eventually he seemed to be completely comfortable around them.

The four of them decided that they liked him. He could still be rude sometimes, but they liked him. Enough to trust him. It was a unanimous vote to invite him to live with them at the warehouse. Which is what they were currently doing. As the sun began to set on a cold winter day, they led him out of the city and towards the now not-so-abandoned building.

Mason trudged up to the top of the hill. Once he reached it he stopped, his brow furrowing in suspicion. He inspected the brick building that sat a few hundred meters away. He threw a perplexed look to the other four.

“Tada,” Ashley said, lazily waving her hands. She was relatively tired from the two hour walk it was from the city to the warehouse.

Wally laughed at her. Then he stepped forward and wrapped his hand around Mason’s wrist. “Come on, come check it out!” he insisted, tugging him down the hill. Mason resisted a bit, glancing over to Tina with a raised brow. When she simply smiled at him and continued down the hill, Mason let Wally drag him along.

Once they reached the building Wally let go of Mason’s wrist and ran ahead. He went to the double doors, which had previously been repaired by himself and Tina, with Ashley lending a hand. As he dragged the door open, Mason observed the rest of the building. Strangely, there were bed sheets over the windows that looked to be nailed to the brick around the window frame.

“Mason!” Wally called to him. Mason looked over to him. His eyes widened.

The doors were open, revealing the inside of the building that seemed to be glowing. From what he could see, there was a wall-mounted light as well as a few strings of fairy lights that lined the brick. They gave off a bright yellow glow, looking like a few hundred fireflies buzzing close to the wall. He could see a few tables with a random assortment of things on them. Gloves, hats and scarves, a few cups, a half-eaten bag of chips and some paper plates. He saw a minifridge. Compared to the cold, blue-tinted air outside, it all looked so warm and inviting.

“Well, come on in,” Tina said as Wally and Ashley made their way inside. “It might start snowing soon.” She walked in and nodded at Mason to follow. After a moment’s hesitation, he did.

When he walked in, his eyes widened further. The whole place was lit up. Although it was quite dim since some of the lighting didn’t reach the centre of the room. But the dimness of it made it feel even more warm. In one of the far corners were a few piles of blankets and pillows. Some thick, some fluffy and some thin. Above the piles, on the brick walls were stickers. Stars, crescents and animals. There was a folding screen near the piles with clothes hanging off the top. There was another small fridge. There was food littering the tables. Snacks. Candy. He looked up and saw patches of tarp littering the tin ceiling. He glanced around and saw that the sheets were covering every window. The building was still cold, but it was bearable and sheltered compared to outside.

He looked to the others who were looking at him expectantly. Wally even had a large grin of excitement on his face. But Mason was confused. “What… is this?” he asked.

“We live here!” Wally replied, throwing his arms out.

“You… live here,” Mason deadpanned, giving them all a flat look.

Wally’s grin faltered. He lowered his arms. He glanced to the others, who had confusion etched on their faces. It seemed like Mason was either unimpressed or angry. Both of those were reactions they weren’t expecting.

Tina said, “uh, yeah… we were hoping-”

“Hold on a second.” Mason held up a hand, quieting her. “You guys-” He let out a bitter laugh. “You guys have been staying here in this, this- let’s call it a castle, hm? You guys are staying in this big castle, this big safe castle and have been completely hiding it from the other street kids?” He glared at them.

Tina frowned. “Hey-”

“And look at all this nice stuff!” He spun in a circle and gestured around. “Look at this- what is that a _microwave?_ And a kettle? You guys get warm food and warm drinks while the rest of us are out in the streets freezing to death!?” he snarled, thrusting a finger in their direction.

Tina stepped forward, now glaring back. “Mason, you don’t-”

“Just who the hell do you think you guys are? Keeping this from everyone else? Do you realise how many kids you would be saving if you brought everyone here!?”

“Do you think we don’t realise how lucky we are!?” Wally shouted back, marching up to the other boy. “How lucky I was!? I found this place! I got lucky! But don’t say we’re not sharing. We hide the fact that we live here, sure, but we share everything we can. Or do you not see us go around the city and hand out warm drinks, warm food to whoever we can?” He glared furiously at Mason, who glared back but now had a certain hesitance in his eyes.

“We’re not heartless, Mason,” said Wally, “we’re smart. If you brought every street kid from the city to here, we’d have the cops shutting us down in the next hour. A crowd of 50 something kids walking out of the city will raise alarm. We can’t risk that. Tina and I realized we had an opportunity to provide other kids with a little bit of the luck we got. So we do that. But if we reveal this to anyone then we _can’t do that anymore._ So we only bring people here that we trust. People who can help us help the others. That’s why we brought you here. We thought we could trust you with this.”

Wally stared Mason down. Mason stared right back. Then with a menacing step towards Wally he told him, “warm drinks and food are all fine, but you’re still hiding safe shelter from everyone.”

Tina gently pulled Wally back and stepped up to Mason. “There’s a few abandoned buildings in the factory district that we’ve been scoping out for the past few weeks. We’ve been making sure no one’s visited them in years. Cleaning them, as well. Making sure they’re safe for the others.” Mason blinked at her. “Like Wally said, we’re not heartless. Just smart,” she stated.

It was silent as Mason assessed her. He stepped back from her and gave them all a long look. He then sighed. He gazed over at the table lined with appliances.

“… how do you get all this stuff, anyways?” he asked.

The other four glanced at each other. They all knew the answer was Wally’s powers, but Mason didn’t know yet.

“Uhhh,” Ashley drew out, trying her best to not stare at Wally for too long.

Wally sighed and rolled his eyes. If Mason was going to fully trust them he needed to know as well. Wally tapped into his speed. He raced over to the plastic cups and grabbed a few. Then he ran back to Mason and wrapped his fingers around the cups, making him hold them. He stepped backwards and tapped out of his speed.

Mason’s eyes widened and his arms jerked. He lost grip of the cups. “What the fuck!?” he exclaimed as he fumbled for them. They still tumbled to the ground. Mason snapped his gaze to Wally who still had small strips of lightning fizzling around him.

“That’s how,” said Wally.

“Wally!” Tina gasped, shocked that he had so easily revealed his powers to the other boy.

Mason’s eye twitched. “Are you shitting me right now!?” he yelled.

“Nope,” Wally chimed.

“You got powers!?”

“Yep!”

“What are you- are you related to the Flash, or something?”

“No,” Wally answered firmly. He wanted to make it clear to Mason that he had nothing to do with the Flash. He also wanted to keep the fact that he knew who Flash was a secret from Mason. For now.

“Oh my god…” Mason dragged his hands down his face.

“So…” Wally glanced to the girls. Tina and Ashley gave him frantic looks while Connie yawned. “Are you going to join us?” he asked.

Mason held up a finger. “Just- just give me a moment, man. I just had a lot of information dumped onto me.”

“Sure thing!” Wally rocked on the balls of his feet as he waited. He looked to the others. Tina still looked wide-eyed at Wally. Ashley had a hand pressed over her face. Connie rubbed at her eyes and yawned again.

Then, Wally and the two older girls watched as Connie wandered over to Mason. She tugged on his sleeve.

Mason looked down at her and snapped, “what!?” His eyes widened when he realized it was Connie, who was now considering him with wide eyes. “Whoa, hey, Connie, I’m sorry, I-I’m just confused. I didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m sorry,” he said gently.

Connie watched him for another moment before nodding in satisfaction. Then she mumbled, “can you decide so we can go to sleep? ‘m tired.”

Tina cooed, while Ashley snorted and Wally laughed. Mason hesitated, stammering over his words while glancing rapidly at everyone. “I-” he looked back down to Connie, who was staring at him with wide shimmering eyes and a pout. Mason sighed. “Okay, yeah. Fine. I’ll help.”

Wally started to smile. “So you’re staying?”

Mason nodded with a shrug. “Yeah. I’m staying.”

Tina sighed in relief, glad the whole ordeal was over. Ashley acknowledged his decision with a hum and a nod, then moved to guide the still-yawning Connie to her blankets.

Wally whooped. “Yes! Oh, man, this is going to be great! I mean I love the others but having another boy around is going to be awesome!” Tina rolled her eyes. “Let me show you around!” Wally leaned forward and grabbed Mason’s wrist again, beginning to drag him towards the tables.

** March 19th – Tina was helping Wally study chemistry. **

“What is the difference between chemical elements and compounds?” Tina asked, her eyes set on the page in front of her.

Textbooks, notebooks, pens and pencils scattered the ground. The floor was a mess of colourful paper. On the open pages of the notebooks were messy scribbles of ink, and poking out the sides of the textbooks were thin sticky notes. Wally and Tina sat across from each other. Tina had a textbook on her lap and Wally had a notebook on his, a pen in hand.

It was only the two of them in the warehouse at the moment. Ashley and Mason had taken Connie out to the city to introduce her to some of the other street kids. She had been with them for a long time now, but was always either at the warehouse or clinging to either Tina or Wally. They all wanted her to get used to interacting with strangers. Wally and Tina had decided to stay home that day. Connie needed to get used to their absence. Plus Wally had some learning to catch up on.

Tina was testing his knowledge on chemistry, or she was at least trying. But Wally’s mind was distracted. He needed a suit. His stealing had become a weekly routine. He stole so they could survive. But what had become a regular occurrence with that, was replacing Wally’s shoes. And his clothes. Which both were guaranteed to catch on fire whenever he ran. It was annoying. He needed to wear something that wouldn’t burn to a crisp every time he ran. He needed a suit.

Wally frowned towards the ground. He tapped his pen against the paper, the motion steadily speeding up as he thought. He narrowed his eyes. His hand became a blur and his pen tore a hole into the paper, then the end of his sleeve began to smoke and spark.

He snapped out of his daze and rapidly patted the sleeve. He quelled the developing flames and sighed. Tina, having gotten used to his strange behaviors, had paid him no mind. His shoulders slouched.

“I need a suit,” he said.

“Uh, no. The answer is a chemical element is made up of- wait what did you say?” She looked up to him, eyebrows raised once she processed what he said.

“I need a suit,” he repeated. He held up his sleeve, where the edges were charred. “My clothes keep on burning up and we keep on having to get me new shoes. If I want to keep going out and stealing things-.”

“’want to’?” she considered him with a quizzical expression. “Not have to? You- wait why bring this up? You’re supposed to be revising chemistry.” She gestured to the textbook on her knee.

“A chemical element is made up of one atom, for example hydrogen, while a chemical compound is made of more than one element, for example water,” he said. He then raised his brow at her expectantly.

She blinked at him. Then she lightly scoffed and closed the textbook. “Alright.” She tossed it to the side and leaned her elbow on her knees. “Explain to me why you chose to say ‘want to’.”

“I don’t think it matters.”

She shrugged. “I think it does. People are always saying things for a reason.”

He huffed. “I just meant- I mean I _am_ going to continue to steal for us whenever we run out of food, but, Tina. I pickpocket for fun.” He vaguely waved his hands. “I like doing it. And you know, we help other kids and ourselves but with my powers I could do that on a bigger scale, like you know…” he avoided her gaze and scratched at his cheek. “… robbing a bank?” he said in a high-pitched tone.

Tina let out a long and loud gasp, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “You want to become a _Rogue!”_ she yelled.

“I’m not going to become a _Rogue,”_ he hissed back at her.

“You promised you wouldn’t!”

“Yeah I did which is why I’m _not going to become a Rogue, Tina!_ I just want my clothes to stop catching on fire!” he said, eyes narrowed at her. They were both speaking to each other as though they were arguing in a library, and not a secluded warehouse miles away from the city.

“You said you were going to rob a bank,” she whispered, “Wally, that’s people’s money, lots of it. There’s a difference between pickpocketing ten dollars and robbing _ten million.”_

“That’s ten million dollars that could go towards helping people! Giving people shelter, food-”

“Then why don’t you go steal a building!?”

“Because buildings are _heavy,_ Tina!” he snarled at her.

She scoffed and looked away from him, shaking her head. It had always been a silent agreement between them that they didn’t steal unless they needed to. Stealing was for necessary things. Like food. And clothes. Blankets and pillows to sleep with and a heater to keep them warm. Or a Nintendo DS and a couple of games to go with it. The necessary things.

To consider stealing unnecessary things is to question your own morals. If Wally was going to start targeting banks, then Wally was going to turn to a life of crime. Turning to a life of crime in Central City meant you had the Flash’s attention. Wally would be making a decision he couldn’t come back from.

However, Wally didn’t see the big deal in robbing banks. There was money in that building that people on the streets deserved to have. Wally wanted to give them that money.

He pouted when Tina still wouldn’t look at him. “Come on, Tina,” he whined, “I just wanna look cool while I steal from dumb rich people.”

She spared him a glance. She sighed and looked right at him. “Fine,” she said. He cheered. “I will help you look into materials for a suit, but _you’re_ making it. And you’re on your own when you want to rob from banks and super rich people. I want to be a world-renowned scientist, Wally. I can’t do that if I have a criminal record.”

He nodded his head. “Of course, Tina! I would never do anything that’ll stop you from achieving your dreams, I promise.” He drew a cross over his heart. After a suspicious glare, she gave in and sent him a smile that he quickly returned. He then held up a finger and said, “can I make one more request?” She hummed. “Can we not tell the others about the suit?”

She tilted her head at him. “What? Why not? You don’t trust them?”

“No, no it’s not about trust. The less people that know the better, right? I wouldn’t want them getting tangled up in any of the gritty stuff. The Flash comics I read taught me that it’s dangerous for people to know your secret identity,” he told her.

She shrugged. “That’s fair, I suppose. Alright, we won’t tell them.”

He pumped his fist and muttered a quick, ‘yes!’ He said, “thanks, Tina. You’re the best.”

She smiled brightly at him. “You’re welcome!” She then turned briefly to scoop up a pile of papers from the floor. “Now, since you seem to know so much about chemistry,” she held the papers out to him, “I made a test for you. I want you to take it.”

His mood immediately changed. He dropped his shoulders and glared at her. He took the papers. “You’re the worst.”

She grinned wide at him. “I know.”

** April 8th – Wally’s suit was finished and he was ready to show it to Tina. **

“You ready?” Wally called from behind the folding screen.

On the other side of it, Tina sat on a lone chair. She rolled her eyes. “I’ve been ready for the past five minutes, Wally, just show it to me!” She crossed one leg over the other and bounced her foot.

“Okay,” Wally laughed. “Just give me one more second!” Tina groaned. Wally quickly worked on adjusting the suit, making sure it fit well.

He’d been working on it for the last three weeks. The day after telling Tina about his idea, he had decided to forgo her help. He would do everything on his own. She had made sure that he was certain about that decision before backing off.

Wally researched into fabrics. Which ones were heat resistant and fire proof, and which ones conduct electricity. In the end he’d found four. Kevlar, Nomex, Polyester and Nylon. Plus silver for accents. He took a week to teach himself how to hand sew. He got himself a sewing machine (the illegal way) and taught himself how to use it. Then he stole the materials necessary and learned how to work with them.

Then he made the suit. It took two weeks.

He had to get his own measurements. Then he had to make the pattern. There were many fails along the way. He got the measurements wrong so he had to cut the fabric out again. He completely screwed up the stitching and had to start from the beginning. Once he was done and put the suit on it was either too tight in some places or too loose. So he had to steal more fabric and start again. Lastly, there were times while embedding silver into the suit where he’d either accidentally break the silver or burn a hole into the fabric. By the end of the first week he was as frustrated as he was on his tenth birthday in 2004.

When he finally finished the suit it was a huge relief. He took some time to make final adjustments, but it fit well and it was done. Finally made. He took it for some test runs. The result was that it didn’t catch on fire. So, the best possible outcome really.

Today was the day he was showing the suit to Tina. He had done everything during the night while everyone was sleeping, and hid the suit in the morning, so she never got to see his progress. Today the others were out for lunch and a walk in the city. Perfect opportunity for Wally to show off the suit.

“Okay, you ready?” he asked.

“Just show me already!” she yelled.

With a grin he sped out from behind the screen and stood in front of her.

Her eyes widened. “Hey! Whoa, look at you!” She gestured a hand towards him with a bright smile.

The majority of the suit was a dark crimson. There were some patches that were darker than others and clearly made of a different material. Starting from the middle of his forearm, his gloves were a light blue. It was the same with his boots. He had a cowl that was similar to the Flash’s. It hid his bright red curls but his eyes were left uncovered. Throughout the suit was lines made of silver that shimmered as light bounced off them. The lines wrapped around his arms and legs, and cut through his torso starting from his neck to his hip, as well as from his armpit to his hip. Apart from the silver details the suit was blank. No symbol on his chest, no fancy details like a lightning bolt belt, no wings where his ears should be. Nothing.

Tina got up from the chair and walked towards him. “You look great,” she complimented as she scanned the suit.

“Thanks!” He grinned at her. He spun in a circle then said, “you like it?”

“I do!” she replied, then asked, “what is it made of?” while nodding to the suit.

Wally began to point at patches of fabric as he explained, “it’s mostly made out of reinforced Kevlar, so it’s fireproof. I added some thin layers of Nomex in some areas to allow for more fluid movement, and the base is polyester so it feels really comfy on the inside! I made the gloves from Nylon, a conductive fabric that will let me absorb electricity when I want to. Kevlar and Nomex are electrocution resistant, so I can’t have those around my hands otherwise I can’t get electrocuted- oh!” He wobbled as he held up a booted foot. “And the boots are made out of a combination of Kevlar and Nomex as well! And-.” He put his foot down “- I embedded silver into the suit, see? It’ll conduct the flow of electricity through my suit, see it connects to the nylon so when I get electrocuted it’ll spread it to the rest of my body,” he finished. He sent her a proud, beaming smile.

“Wow,” she said, nodding with an impressed expression. “You outdid yourself.” She then crossed her arms and leaned towards him with a raised brow. “But does it catch fire when you run?” she challenged.

He sent her the best impression of a smirk an eleven-year-old could do. “Watch this.”

He was off. Speeding away with a quick crack of lightning. His exit caused wind to sweep Tina’s hair to one side. She huffed and began to fix it. Before she was done Wally was back, skidding to a stop before her.

There was no smoke or sizzling emitting from the suit.

“You did it!” she cheered.

“I did it!” he echoed.

She finished fixing her hair as she gave the suit another surveying look. “It seems kind of blank, though. Couldn’t come up with a cool symbol or-” She waved a finger at his head “- weird ear pieces?”

“Nope!” he chimed. “I’ll think of something later. And I’m pretty sure Flash uses those ear pieces to hear because I can’t hear anything when I run.” Tina gasped, worried. “Oh no it’s fine! I just need to figure out how he made them, I can do that! Besides, I don’t need to hear when I run. I just need to see where I’m going.” He shrugged. He then gasped. “Speaking of seeing! I also made some-”

“What if an explosion goes off!?” she screeched.

“Tina I’ll be running. The explosion will be _slow,_ I’ll see it.”

She groaned. She placed her face in her hands. “Wally this is such a bad idea-”

“Tina! We talked-”

“No, Wally- you are _eleven,”_ she snapped, pressing her hands flat together and pointing at him. “You are _eleven-years-old._ You shouldn’t be doing this! You should be- I don’t know, playing the DS, running outside, making as many friends as possible, becoming awkward because you discovered you like girls, you- you should be a _kid._ You should _not_ be robbing banks.” Her voice strained with a sudden onslaught of emotion.

Wally stared. His jaw moved. Then his face tightened and he looked resigned. With a tight, controlled tone he said, “with my parents, and my powers, and who I know, I don’t get to have that kind of childhood. I don’t get to be the kid we see on TV. None of us do. So I’ll make do with what I have.”

In that split second before speaking, Wally had accepted the truth. It was a gritty truth for an eleven-year-old to accept. One that shouldn’t be accepted. But it was the truth. Wally will never have the childhood he had always hoped for. He will never have parents that love him and each other. He will never have a warm and happy house to go to after school. He will never have a comfortable bed to sleep on at night. But he will have what he had in that moment. What he had was Tina. Ashley. Connie, and Mason. Family. Their home. His powers. And he will make do with what he had.

Tina’s face crumbled. It hurt to see such a resigned and serious expression on such a young face. That kind of expression had no business being on a face such as Wally’s. Or any child, for that matter.

With tears in her eyes, she stepped forward and wrapped Wally in a hug. “I’m sorry you got that opportunity taken away from you,” she mumbled into his hair.

“I’m sorry you got it taken away from you too,” he said into her shoulder.

He was right. As much as Tina liked to think she was fine, she was not. As much as she liked to think she had a stable mind, she did not. She was also a child. She also had a healthy childhood taken away from her. Ripped from her by her parents’ hands. Those same hands that let go of her small ones seven years ago. Abandoning her in a crowd of thousands. Never returning to find her. Tina had realized days after meeting Wally that they were never going to try.

She realized then, as Wally squeezed her tight, that he was right. She will never have the chance to have a normal childhood. So she cried. She cried, and this time Wally didn’t. He decided that there were plenty of times where Tina was strong for him. Where she comforted him. This time he would be strong for her. He would comfort her.

A few minutes later, when Tina’s eyes were red and puffy and her throat was sore from choking on tears, they pulled apart from each other.

“I’m okay,” Tina reassured him when he gave her a look. She wiped her nose on her sleeve. “Thanks,” she said.

He grinned. “Anytime, sis.”

She looked to him. She took in the dark red cowl that covered the majority of his face, and the rubbery fabric that squeaked a bit when he moved. She scoffed and shoved his face away from her. “You look _ridiculous.”_

He sputtered indignantly. “Wh- I thought you said it looks good!”

“It does! But you look ridiculous _in it.”_ She poked his nose. He glared at her. She laughed when the suit squeaked when he crossed his arms. Once her laughter calmed down she asked him, “so, what are you going to call yourself?”

Wally’s anger dissolved in an instant. His eyes brightened and he straightened his back, uncrossing his arms. “Right! I thought on this for a bit, and I came up with a few options but I think I decided on my favourite one.” She gave on inquisitive hum. He turned and looked off into the distance, waving a hand as he said,

“The Charge.”

** June 15th – Wally was late to make a delivery. **

_Oh man, I’m late. Lizzy’s gonna be so pissed_

Wally thought to himself as he raced through the streets of Central City. He was wearing his Charge uniform and carrying several water bottles in his arms. There were more in his backpack. He was on his way to deliver them to the factory shelter. A shelter that he and his four friends who he now saw as his siblings, had worked hard on and finally got up and running. It was where Lizzy, a seventeen-year-old girl was waiting for him to drop off these water bottles for them. He was late.

It wasn’t his fault, really. He was robbing a 7-eleven of its water when a guy walked in with a gun. And although Wally was all for robbing a store blind, he wasn’t willing to leave the cashier in that situation. So he quickly dealt with the other robber. Disarmed him, tied him up, threw him outside and told the cashier to call the police. Because of the whole ordeal, he was late.

So you could say he was in a hurry. You could also say that was the reason he hadn’t noticed Captain Cold standing on a rooftop, gun trained on him. He almost didn’t see the ice blast. He saw it at the very last second. Heading straight for him. With a quick burst of energy he dodged around it and watched it explode upon the asphalt. He shot his gaze to the rooftop as he continued to move forward.

“Captain Col- _whoa!”_ As he was staring at the Rogue, he had failed to take notice of the sheet of ice covering the road. He ran over it and immediately slipped, crashing to the ground. He impacted on the ice and cried out as pain shot through his shoulder. He laid for a second, groaning. Then he realized his arms were empty. He gasped. The water bottles were sprawled around him, slowly drifting and spinning on the ice.

He scrambled to get to them. He ended up slipping and falling to the ground again. He hissed at the throbbing pain in his shoulder.

He screamed when a shot of ice crashed into his leg. It wrapped around the limb and expanded, cracking and groaning as it did. The blast had attached him to the road. He still didn’t know how to phase out of things. He couldn’t move.

He jerked his gaze upwards, eyes wild and panicked, and saw Golden Glider drifting towards him, carrying Captain Cold by his under arms. Wally watched, heart twisting painfully with fear as Glider deposited Cold onto the ground.

Cold grunted, then brushed down his sleeves. “Every time you do that I hate it even more,” he grumbled.

Glider narrowed her eyes as she floated beside him. “And every time you grow even more ungrateful. I just saved you a climb down the fire escape.” She threw a hand towards the building. Cold hummed back absentmindedly as he adjusted his clothes.

“Hey!” roared a voice. Wally’s gaze snapped to the side to see Heatwave enter the scene. His panic grew at the sight of another Rogue. His breaths began to come out in quick huffs. The Rogues were going to kill him. He had invaded their territory. He was stealing on their territory. They hated him and they were going to kill him.

“Are you fucking serious!?” Heatwave shouted, gesturing to Wally. “You trap kids in ice, now? Huh? That how you work now?”

Captain Cold rolled his eyes. “He is not a-” he looked over to Wally. He blinked. “Oh. Would you look at that. He’s a child.” Heatwave growled while Glider sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“For gods sake, Len. You just glance and shoot, don’t you? You don’t _look,”_ Glider said, shooting her brother a quick glare. She then began to float over to where Wally was trapped.

Cold rolled his eyes. “Oh, he’ll be fine. It’s just a little bit of ice,” he drawled, resting his gun on his shoulder. He looked to Wally, who was shivering and still staring with wide eyes. “You’ll be fine,” he told him.

Wally continued to stare, not sure how to respond and still assuming that the Rogues were here to kill him. He flinched when Glider kneeled down on the ice next to him. “Hi,” she greeted, sending him a smile. He didn’t respond. “Let’s get you out of this, shall we?” she hummed, raising her hands. Wally watched her closely as she reached into the block of ice, her hands phasing through it.

“He is not going to be fine, it’s ice and he’s a kid-”

“And what do you know of kids, hm?” Cold raised a brow at Heat.

Heatwave pointed a finger at him. “I may not know much but one thing’s certain is that you don’t incase them in ice!” he snarled.

Cold sent him a flat, unimpressed look. “Like I said, he’ll be fine.”

Heat’s glare narrowed further. “Let’s ask him.” He turned to Wally and checked, “are you fine, kid?”

Wally snapped his gaze from where Glider was working on his leg. Heat and Cold were looking at him expectantly. He gave them both a deer-in-the-headlights look. What did they ask him? Oh, right. “I-uh-well it-it kind of hurts a little,” he answered honestly. Might as well be honest before his death. “And I hit my shoulder,” he added as an afterthought.

Heat pointed to Wally and gave Cold a look of vindication. Cold huffed.

“Oh, would you two please stop arguing,” Glider called over her shoulder. Wally’s leg suddenly went incredibly numb. He looked back to see Glider had made his leg intangible and was guiding it out of the ice. Once his leg was free she sent him another smile. “There. All done! But please don’t run, we just want to talk to you. Sorry for my bro’s idiotic behavior.” She threw a glare at said brother. He glared right back.

Wait. The Rogues weren’t trying to kill Wally? They just wanted to talk to him?

Cold then heaved a sigh, rolling his head. “Yes, well,” he began to walk towards Wally, “now that we’re aware that he’s a child this places us in a different situation.” He stopped in front of Wally and gave him an assessing look. “I apologise. I assumed you were at an appropriate age to be blasted with ice. Clearly you’re not. What are you, nine?” he asked, tilting his head.

“I’m eleven,” Wally told him. He could attempt an escape, but he would most likely just end up slipping and falling on the ice again. Plus, he had heard rumors that Golden Glider was capable of being as fast as the Flash. He wouldn’t be able to escape if he tried.

Heatwave let out a strangled breath. “Eleven? That is way too young to be a criminal!”

“I agree,” Cold said, sparing Heat a glance. He looked back to Wally. “Stop it,” he ordered, as if he expected Wally to immediately run back home and never commit a crime again.

Now that he knew they weren’t going to kill him, and had watched them bicker for the last five minutes, he felt less scared than he was before. So he replied, “um… no?”

“Well that didn’t work.” Cold sighed and turned his gaze to his sister. “Any bright ideas, sis?”

Glider pressed her lips together and inspected Wally from where she still sat next to him. Her eyes lit up with an idea. “You should join us,” she suggested.

“No!” both Wally and Cold exclaimed.

Glider held up her hands. “Okay, wow. Shut down my ideas quicker, why don’t you.”

Cold gestured to her with his gun. _“Why_ would you want a child on our team?” he questioned, frowning at her.

Glider pointed to Wally and said, “he’s a child who’s a _speedster._ We could use a speedster on our team! Speedster vs speedster. Him vs Red.” At that, Wally’s fear came crashing back. Going up against the Flash was the last thing he wanted! Was she kidding!?

“Again, he’s a _child._ Way too young to go head to toe with the _Flash.”_ Cold gave his sister a flat look. Wally found himself nodding in agreement. No way was he going to face off against the Flash anytime soon.

From where he stood, Heatwave hummed with consideration. “Well, we could train him.” Cold gave him a long look while Glider snapped her fingers.

She stood up from the ground. “Yes, exactly! We can train him, make him a better speedster than Red. Keep him as our secret weapon.”

Wally began to speak up, “um, excuse-”

“And once he’s old enough we’ll trick Flash with an elaborate plan of ours. But really, we were just distracting him and tiring him out. Once he’s low on energy we’ll send in our speedster to kick his ass!” she proposed. Heat nodded while Cold took a moment to consider it.

Wally narrowed his eyes. “Hey!” They looked over to him. “Yeah, hi! Person you’re currently talking about as if I’m not here! I’m not joining you guys!” he objected.

Glider frowned, tilting her head. “And why not?”

“Because I’m a solo act. I work alone! I don’t wanna be part of a team,” he told them.

Heat let out a sudden bark of a laugh. “Who are you, Batman? Because you sound like Batman right now.”

Glider laughed, a much more light and bell-like laugh compared to Heat’s. “Oh, he does, doesn’t he?” She pointed a finger to Heatwave and giggled. The two of them continued to have a moment of shared laughter.

Wally fumed. “If I work with you guys then I’ll have the Flash on my tail and I don’t want that!”

“You’re living a life of crime, kid. You’re going to have the Flash on your tail no matter what you do,” said Cold to Wally. The boy frowned, realizing that the Rogue was right. Cold strapped his gun to his back then crossed his arms. He nodded to Wally. “What’s your name, kid?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Wally answered, “Charge.”

“Okay, Charge. Well, you’re fast. But it’s clear to me that you have no clue how to use your powers properly,” he assumed.

“Hey! I do!”

Cold raised a brow at him. “Do you know how to throw a punch? A real one, that’ll cause some damage. Do you know _where_ to punch that’ll cause the most damage?”

Wally hated to admit it, but Cold was right. He didn’t. “… No.”

Cold hummed. “You rely too much on your running. You’re not aware of your surroundings. You barely dodged my first ice blast in time and you failed to realise that right ahead of you was a sheet of ice that I had previously prepared. You slipped. You don’t pay attention. You don’t know how to fight. You don’t know how to use your power to its fullest potential, and your suit is atrocious,” he concluded.

Wally looked down at his suit. “It’s not,” he mumbled.

“It sucks,” Heatwave said. Wally glanced from him to Golden Glider, who nodded with pity on her face. Wally sighed, dejected. His suit sucked.

“Right,” sighed Cold. “Clearly you’re in need of assistance. We can provide you with it. We’ll train you. Teach you how to use your powers to your advantage. How to be a better criminal. We’ll also make you a new suit. A better one. What’d you say, kid?” He spread his arms, gesturing to both his sister and Heatwave. “Want to join the Rogues?”

Wally considered it. He had promised Tina that he wasn’t going to join them. He had promised himself, too. He didn’t want to be part of a group that would draw so much attention, and that’s guaranteed to get caught by the Flash. But Captain Cold was right. He didn’t know how to fight. Speed was the only thing he had. If he ever got into a battle, running away was his only defense. He had no offense. If they were offering to help him change that, wouldn’t he be better off for accepting? He decided that yes, he would be.

Wally watched them for another long moment. Then he said, “okay. I’ll join.”

Cold merely nodded while Heat grinned and Glider celebrated, “this should be fun!”

Wally held up a finger. “But, uh, can we like… do this another time? I was kind of in the middle of going somewhere, and I’m late.” He pointed to the water bottles that still littered the ground.

“Fine,” Cold said. “You go on your merry way. Don’t worry about contacting us, we will contact you.”

Wally frowned at that. It sounded just a little bit threatening. “Um… okay…” he began to attempt to get up, wary of the ice.

“Let me help you,” Glider offered. She floated over to him and helped him up, then guided him off the ice. Once he was on the asphalt, she scooped up the water bottles and handed them back to him. “Why so many?” she questioned, raising a delicate eyebrow.

“I get thirsty,” Wally answered. He didn’t trust them enough to tell them anything else. They were adults, after all. They were probably just as stupid as all the others. If they were to find out about the shelter they would probably just shut them down. Or something of the like.

Wally adjusted his backpack. He gave the three Rogues a quick look. “Okay, uh, see you later, I guess.” With that, he tapped into his speed and zipped away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the first part! Expect part 2 to be uploaded next week on monday/tuesday. I changed the upload schedule because sunday ended up not working for me, so it's monday/tuesday now! 
> 
> Also, please let me know if you want the birthdays and ages to be at the beginning of every chapter, or if it's fine that they just stay on the chapter that the character was introduced in.


	4. 2006 - Wally's criminal identity part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally receives an official introduction from the Rogues, helps some of his friends, and runs into the last person he'd want to run into

** June 21st – Wally was on a supply run.  **

Wally was crouched down at the end of an alleyway, his backpack set on the ground in front of him, unzipped. He tugged a few water bottles out then set them on the ground. He then extracted a bag of apples and set them in a separate pocket. He spent the next few moments rearranging and sorting out everything that was in the backpack. He arranged it so there was enough room for his next stop. Just as he was setting the last bottle back into place, a voice suddenly spoke,

“Hey, there you are, kid!”

He sprung up to his feet, using his superspeed to scan the area for a cop or an angry employee. He saw neither. He tapped out of his speed and looked around again with a frown, feeling confused. He could’ve sworn he had heard a voice. Was he finally starting to go insane like those guys down by the train station?

“Down here, kid,” the voice spoke again.

He jumped. He did what the voice said and directed his gaze downwards. There on the ground by his feet was a smashed mirror. It should be an ordinary sight, but what made it interesting were the collective images of a man in each shard. A man who wore an orange suit with a green helmet.

Wally calmed down at seeing it was just a Rogue speaking to him. He leaned down with a curious tilt of his head. “Mirror Master?” he guessed.

The Rogue clicked his fingers and sent him a wink. “Bingo, kiddo! You must be Charge.”

Wally crouched again so he could see the reflections better. “Yeah, I am. How did you…” he looked around. He was wondering how Mirror Master was able to find him.

“There’s reflective surfaces all over the city, kid! You move fast, though. I’m glad I was able to finally find you staying still before you were off again!” he told him, grinning.

Wally thought back to his encounter with the Rogues a couple of nights ago. Right. Captain Cold had told him that they would be contacting him. “Is this about me joining the Rogues?”

“Yeah! We decided you’re officially in. We’ll train you to become one of us! If you still want that, that is.” He held a hand out, a serious expression suddenly etched on his face.

Wally nodded. With the Rogues’ help he’ll be able to do more than just rob grocery stores. If he was lucky he’ll be able to start handing money to the other street kids. And the older demographic of the homeless. He could give them the jump start they all needed to get their lives back together. Get off the streets. So he said, “yeah, I do.”

Mirror Master smiled brightly. “Great! You free to start right now?”

Wally’s eyebrows jumped up and his mouth dropped open with shock. “R-right now?”

“Yeah, right now! We’ve got everything all planned out, so we can start now. Unless you’re busy.”

Wally gave his backpack a considering look. “I mean, I don’t have to deliver this stuff until tomorrow, but I still have a few stores to go to before they close-”

Mirror Master let out a laugh. Wally frowned at him. “Kid, stores are never closed for people like us. Just break into them later.”

“I’ve never considered that before,” Wally said honestly.

Mirror Master tapped his temple. “That’s because you’re not thinking like a true criminal. Yet. We can help you with that.”

A criminal. The other Rogues had called him that, too. He had even referred to himself as such. Wally had never intended to become a _criminal._ Criminals fit into the category of bad people. In the shows that Wally remembered watching, the criminals always lost and always deserved to lose. Heroes captured criminals and brought them to justice. But Wally couldn’t be a hero. Not with the people he wanted to help. If being a criminal was the only way, then a criminal he was going to be.

“Yeah, okay. I can start now,” he said to Mirror Master.

The Rogue clapped his hands together once. “That’s good to hear! Now, could you back up and give me some space, kid?”

Wally quickly nodded, standing up and stepping back. As he swung his backpack back onto his shoulders, the mirror shards glowed with a bright, shimmering blue light. Then Mirror Master’s form grew outwards from the shards, glowing and shifting until he was physically standing before Wally. Wally gaped up at him.

The Rogue grinned down at him. “Aw, look at you, you’re tiny!” he cooed.

Wally’s cheeks went warm and he narrowed his eyes. “I’m not tiny!” he fumed, “I’m at an average height for a kid my age!”

“That may be true, but you’re still tiny,” Mirror Master said, closing one eye and pinching his fingers in front of the open one. Wally growled and lightning flashed around his eyes. Mirror Master laughed. “Whoa! Someone’s insecure about his height! Okay, kid, I won’t bring it up again. You really ready to go? Gotta take you through the mirror world to get to our secret base.”

Wally’s bitter mood evaporated at the mention of a secret base. His eyes widened and shined with curiosity and interest. “Secret base?”

“Yeah! It’s super cool. Want to go check it out?”

Wally nodded eagerly. “Yeah!”

Mirror Master smiled at him and said, “okay. Is it cool if I hold your hand? I still haven't figured out a way to bring other people into the mirror world without physical contact.” Wally shrugged and nodded, and the Rogue grabbed a hold of his hand. “Hold tight, kiddo. We’re going through, now,” he told him before stepping back to the mirror shards.

They glowed brightly once again. Then Wally felt his whole entire body tingle and go numb, like an extreme case of pins and needles. The world around him became nothing but a blank white abyss. He placed a hand over his eyes to shield them from the light. He felt a sudden rush of wind, then a chill ran through him that chased the pins and needles away. The glow faded and Wally felt that it was safe to open his eyes. When he did, he gasped.

It looked like the night sky above an open field far from any city. The space was an endless sea of black. In that sea floated countless of mirrors. Different shapes and sizes. Rectangles, squares, ovals. Large and small and the tiniest shards. They all shined with their reflective surface, mimicking the twinkling stars up above. Wally slowly looked around, taking it all in. Below them was a path made of mirrors. They collected together and piled on top of each other. A random assortment of complete mirrors and shattered ones. His shoes tapped as he walked along the path, and the sound echoed throughout the space. Wally stared down at his own reflection.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Mirror Master said. Wally looked up at him and simply nodded, finding himself speechless as he continued to gaze into the space of endless mirrors.

After a moment of silence, the Rogue told him, “we’re leaving now. Get ready.” He then approached a mirror and stepped into it. Wally closed his eyes as the bright glow and the feeling of pins and needles washed over him once again. The rush of wind passed, the glow dimmed and he opened his eyes.

He found himself in a building. A large one. He was in a big room. It all looked to be part of some dusty, old abandoned mansion. There were two grand, winding staircases that came to rest near the centre of the room. Between them was two large doors that worked either as an exit or an entrance to another room. The ceilings were high, decorated with intricate bronze work painted with fake gold that was peeling away. There was a chandelier. There was another door at the other end of the room.

From where Wally and Mirror Master had just exited, there was a collection of long standing mirrors. Wally assumed they each lead to different places. On one side of the room, three large TV screens lined the wall, accompanied by big keyboards and some chairs scattering the area. There was also a round table with chairs haphazardly placed around it. There were a few tables that lined the wall opposite the screens. On those tables were piles of cash, briefcases full of cash, a mess of jewelry, stray diamonds and other expensive gemstones. There were also weapons. Big strange guns, small strange guns, what looked to be some staffs and even some ribbons. There were some helmets and masks laying around as well.

The whole place was rusting away and messy. But Wally thought it was amazing nonetheless. He’d never been in a building this big and decorated before. He wanted to explore every nook and cranny.

Mirror Master let go of his hand and he began to silently wander around, staring at everything in his sight.

“Welcome to the Rogues’ secret base, kid,” the Rogue announced, folding his arms and watching Wally.

Wally didn’t seem to hear him. His eyes were steadily growing bigger, a smile slowly stretching his lips as he looked around. His excitement grew and grew until his eyes were large and shining, smile wide and bright. Then he was off. Mirror Master blinked when he disappeared in a flash of yellow lightning. He quickly looked around and spotted Charge by the pile of cash. Charge held a couple of bills in his hands.

“How much is this?” he asked, gaze snapping over to the Rogue.

He shrugged. “Don’t know. A lot,” he answered.

Wally grinned at the cash before looking behind him. In the next second he was over at the screens, fingers hovering over the board. “What’s these for?”

Mirror Master began to walk over to him. “We use those screens to monitor Central City. We keep our plans for heists on there, too. But, uh, don’t-”

The Rogue didn’t have to worry as Wally quickly moved on. He sped away from the screens and the Rogue turned to see him sprinting up and down the staircases, a blurred streak of lightning. The streak sped to the other end of the room and back. Then zipped around the entire room. Mirror Master tried to keep up, but all he could see was colours and lightning. Suddenly the kid was skidding to a stop in front of him.

“This place is _huge!”_ Wally stated, grinning. “Where are we?”

“Old mansion from the 1800s, outside of the-”

“Cool,” Wally interrupted, looking away. He pointed to the doors between the staircase. “Where do those lead to?”

“The entrance hall-”

Wally was gone in a blink of an eye. The door swung behind him as he left. Mirror Master blinked, then he frowned and began to walk to the door.

“Hey! Kid, get back-”

Wally was in front of him once again. “There’s a chandelier in _there,_ too!” he said, pointing to where he just came from. “How big is this place? Is there like a hundred rooms? Is this a _castle?_ Why is there another chandelier? Who needs _two_ chandeliers? That’s too many- actually maybe two is fine, three might be too much. Is there three- what do those do!?” He was gone again. Mirror Master whipped around and found him standing by the weapons table. He picked up one of Heatwave’s prototypes. “What’s this do!?”

Mirror Master held a hand out and yelled, “kid, don’t-!”

Too late.

Wally had aimed it and pulled the trigger. A blast of fire erupted from the nozzle, a sudden wave of heat filling the room. Mirror Master quickly jumped out of the way of the blast while Wally was knocked to the ground from the recoil. The roaring fire shut off once Wally frantically hit the trigger from where he was sprawled on the ground. Not before the blast caused some damage, though.

The fire had reached a large newspaper clip from when the Flash had first taken down the Rogues. The clip was now destroyed, blasted into small flakes of ash that now drifted towards the ground.

Silence.

Mirror Master stared at the place on the wall the clip had been, mouth dropped open. Wally stared at Mirror Master, gun held to his chest and expression one of terror.

Oh god. This was it. This was when the Rogues were going to kill him. He had done something he shouldn’t have. He had stupidly, recklessly grabbed one of their weapons and fired it. He destroyed something. He didn’t know what, but he had destroyed it. He’d done something wrong. If they weren’t going to kill him, they were certainly going to yell at him just as his parents had and he was certainly going to cry.

“Sorry,” he squeaked.

Mirror Master’s gaze flickered over to him. He looked to the gun, then back to the blank wall, then back to Wally.

Then he laughed.

He barked a laugh, head throwing back and a hand coming up to slap his forehead. Wally flinched at the sudden noise, then frowned in confusion as the older man continued to laugh. He was bowed over now, clutching at his stomach and gasping through his laughter.

The Rogue straightened back up, giggling. He wiped away the tears that had gathered in the corner of his eyes. He looked over to Wally. “Oh my god. Kid, you-” he paused to laugh again. “Kid, you’re like Hogarth on a caffeine high.” He made his way over to Charge. “Here, give me this.” He leaned down and gently pried the gun from Wally’s hands, then placed it back on the table. He held a hand out to Charge. “You okay, kid? Not hurt?”

Wally hesitated before taking the offered hand. “You’re not mad?” he asked as Mirror Master helped him to his feet.

The Rogue laughed again. “Mad? That was hilarious! Mick will be thrilled you burned that clip to a crisp,” he joked.

Okay. So the Rogue wasn’t mad at Wally. He wasn’t getting yelled at, nor was he getting kicked out. That was a good thing. That meant that he was still wanted here. Everything was okay.

“… Who’s Mick? And Hogarth?”

Mirror Master frowned. “Mick’s-”

The doors between the staircases burst open. In trailed Captain Cold, Golden Glider, Heatwave and Weather Wizard. They slowed to a stop when their gazes landed on Mirror Master and Charge, standing by the weapons table. They looked over to the small pile of ash on the ground, and the still singeing shreds of paper attached to the wall.

“Well,” Cold said, “I see you found our little trainee.”

Mirror Master laughed. “Yes, but not without a little bit of property damage.”

Heatwave let out a boisterous laugh. “Got your hands on one of my prototypes, did you?” He directed the question to Wally, whose cheeks were dusted red from embarrassment.

“Sorry.”

Captain Cold waved a hand as he walked further into the room. “It’s fine. I hated that thing, anyways.” He moved over to the large screens, and with a click they blinked to life. On one screen were multiple viewings of different streets and shops in the city. The one in the middle had multiple blueprints of a singular building. A museum. On the right screen was a large picture of the Flash with a chunk of text beside it, stating what they currently knew about the hero.

“Isn’t that why we had that clip up? So we could be reminded of when our enemy first bested us and we can become inspired by the hatred that runs through our veins,” Weather Wizard said, raising a fist to the ceiling. He made his way over to Wally, while Glider drifted to Mirror Master and looped her arms around his shoulders. “You must be Charge. It’s good to meet you.” Weather Wizard held his hand out to Wally.

Slowly, while studying the Rogue before him, the boy grasped his hand and shook it. As best as an eleven-year-old could. Weather Wizard let go of his hand and grinned at him. Wally hesitantly smiled back.

“Okay! Official introductions,” Captain Cold announced, turning away from the screens and taking his mask off. He walked to where Wally was and where the other Rogues had gathered around. “My name is Leonard Snart, A.K.A Captain Cold. You will call me ‘Len.’ Over there is my sister Lisa, A.K.A Golden Glider.” Lisa gave Wally a wave from where she stood wrapped up in Mirror Master’s arms. “That there is Sam Scudder, A.K.A Mirror Master, and yes he is dating my sister.” Sam sent Wally a thumbs up. “You’ve already met Mick Rory, A.K.A Heatwave. He’s a pyromaniac.” Mick nodded. “And who you just met is Mark Mardon, A.K.A Weather Wizard.” Mark gave a grunt. “And that’s everyone. Except Digger Harkness. Captain Boomerang. He’s currently in Australia, so.” Len shrugged.

The Rogues looked to Wally expectantly, waiting for his response. He stared at each of them for a second before saying, “you guys really like alliteration.”

Mick let out a deep laugh, looking to those who had alliteration in their names. Mark folded his arms, Lisa gave a sharp grin and Sam let out an amused chuckle. Len folded his arms and lazily rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“What’s your name, kid?” Sam asked.

Wally frowned. He didn’t want them knowing his name. What if they connected the dots and made him go back to his parents? No. He wasn’t going to let that happen. “No thanks!” he chirped. “Charge will do.” He looked to Len, ignoring the others’ taken aback looks and frowns. “How long will training take? I promised my siblings I’d be back before ten.”

Len raised a brow. “You have siblings?” he drawled.

Whoops. Wally shrugged and gave the vague answer of “kind of,” in an attempt to dodge the question.

“Now hold on a second,” Mark said, raising a finger. “Kid, if you got a family then you have to tell us.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Wally snapped.

Cold was suddenly crouched in front of him, eye-to-eye. His lips were pressed in a thin line and he looked generally unimpressed. Wally gulped. He suddenly became hyper aware of the fact that he was in a room with adults who were criminals and much more experienced than him at fighting, probably capable of killing him too. He kept his wide eyes on Cold, fear growing by the second.

Cold’s gaze burned into Wally. “We have strict rules. One of them is that we’re honest to each other. I couldn’t care less about your name. But if you have a family waiting for you at home in a nice little cozy house, then you tell us right now. And your little rebellious phase of robbing stores stops, too. No lying. You hear me?”

Wally narrowed his eyes and raised his chin, looking directly into Cold’s eyes. “I _don’t_ have a family. Just a bunch of other kids I call my siblings. We’re all street kids. There’s no family,” he told him firmly.

Cold analyzed him, slowly searching for signs that he was lying. Then he hummed and said, “fine,” while rising to his feet. “Training will only be an hour today. We want to see what skills you have, then we’ll work from there.”

Wally frowned at him. “Thought adults were supposed to be nicer to kids.”

“Are you stupid?” Len asked.

“No.”

“Then I won’t treat you like you are.”

** July 7th – Wally had just robbed a store.  **

Wally sprinted through the streets of Central City, electricity buzzing under his skin and a bright smile on his face. It was late afternoon, the summer sun leaving an orange glow over the skyscrapers. He was speeding away from a store he had just robbed, his backpack full of toys he’d be dropping off at the street kid shelter. For Wally, there was nothing that made him more happy than knowing he was making others happy.

He was wearing a new suit that the Rogues had given him. It felt incredibly familiar to his last one, but with some changes that made it look more stylish. The majority of it was still a dark crimson, but now there were dark textured patches on his sides, under his arms and down the sides of his legs. His gloves weren’t entirely blue, instead the colour cut off at his wrist, the back of his hands were dark crimson and the front a light blue. It was the same with his boots. The top was red but the soles were blue. The silver lines were now laid out in a way that mimicked lightning bolts running through his suit. Silver also wrapped around the edges of his fingers, working as a separation between the crimson and blue. He still had the cowl, but there was the addition of lightning-shaped ear pieces. There was now a logo on his chest. It was three lightning bolts surrounded by a circle, all made of silver.

Wally’s opinion of the new suit was that it was super cool! And he loved it, like, a lot.

He had been training with the Rogues for about two weeks now. It was mostly hard work, learning how to properly fight while being taught their rules. However, exploring his powers and how to properly use them to his advantage was also fun. Hitting things was fun as well. He found himself looking forward to the training sessions. Already he could tell that his skills were improving. He was sure that soon he’d be confident that he can survive going up against the Flash. A very quick assumption to make.

He still hadn’t told Tina that he was training with the Rogues. Or anyone, really. The others still didn’t even know that he was running around as the Charge. However, he wasn’t ready to tell Tina about the Rogues training him. He had promised her, after all. He wasn’t exactly ready to face her look of betrayal, or wrath, once he tells her. It was fine. He wasn’t even going out on any heists with them, so she wouldn’t know. He would tell her eventually.

As he ran through the streets, his eyes glanced around his surroundings. Since Len had told him to pay attention, it had become a habit. He made sure to keep an eye out for any obstacles or possible attacks. He also kept an eye out for Flash. He still hadn’t run into him while out as Charge, and with that he considered himself lucky. He was just waiting for that luck to run out.

When he turned a corner, he spotted a familiar face walking along the pavement. It was Mason, head tilted down as he trailed along with his hands stuffed in his jacket’s pockets. An idea came to Wally’s mind. He grinned.

He remembered Mason’s interest in the newly released _X-box_ console. Wally was interested as well, of course, but Mason seemed more excited than him. He also complained this morning that there wasn’t anymore apples. Well, Wally was already out. And he was always looking for opportunities to keep his siblings happy. He was pretty sure there was a _Gamestop_ nearby.

With a burst of energy he shot down the street. He ran about two blocks before he found the _Gamestop_ and zipped into it. He nabbed one of the _X-boxes_ from behind the counter and ran out, ignoring the beeping that followed him. Carrying the box under his arm, he ran to the nearest market and swiped up an apple. He sped back to Mason and quickly dragged him into an alley. He shoved the _X-box_ into Mason’s bag and the apple into his hand. He tapped out of his speed.

“What the fu- hey!” Mason shouted once he registered what just happened.

“Hi!” Charge rapidly waved a hand. “There’s an _X-box_ in your backpack-.”

“Wha-.”

“And there’s an apple.” Charge poked said apple. “Avoid the cops. Have a nice day!” Before Mason could say anything else, Charge was gone. He laughed as he sped away, feeling light now that he had given Mason something that’ll make him happy.

He moved on, running through the city and towards the factory district. He slowed to a stop once he reached the collection of abandoned factories that sat a little outside of the city. He crept around the back and entered one of the secret entrances; a collection of bricks that swung inward, the hinges hidden on the inside on the building. He crawled through the hole and entered, closing it behind him.

“Charge!” a chorus of shouts greeted him.

He turned around with a bright grin, beaming at the small crowd of kids and teenagers. There were usually more around, but most of them had gone out to the city to enjoy the summer sun. They would be back by nightfall. They all stood in a makeshift room that was actually a collection of freight containers with some of the metal walls sawed off. The four of them (Wally, Tina, Ashley and Mason) had found a few saws lying around and worked on removing the walls themselves. It was a good disguise in case anyone came to check on the factory. The secret entrance also allowed everyone to escape without being seen by whoever was in the factory. It was, to quote Wally, brilliant.

“Hey, everyone!” he greeted back.

Lizzy walked up to him, arms crossed with an amused tilt to her lips. “Hey, squirt. You’re right on time. What’d you get for us this time around?” 

“More toys!” Wally chirped, shrugging off the backpack. There was an echo of excited exclamations as the younger kids began to crowd around him. He unzipped the bag and began to hand out what he’d got. Some barbies, ponies, hot wheels, colouring books and more. Wally received a few hugs which he gladly accepted. He was smiling so much his cheeks were starting to hurt. 

Once the toys were handed out and the kids scattered to go play, Wally turned to Lizzy. “How’s everything going? Do you guys need anything? Are you out of apples?” If he and the others were out of apples, then it was entirely possible that the shelter was out of apples as well.

Lizzy quirked a brow at him. “We never had apples in the first place,” she told him.

Wally went bug-eyed. “I never got you apples!? I can-”

Lizzy quickly grasped at his shoulder and kept him in place. “Whoa, there. It’s fine. We have strawberries, bananas and some carrots. We’re okay. But hey, listen to me for a sec.” As she said that, some of the other teens walked up to stand beside her. Wally tilted his head curiously at her. “You should take a break, Charge,” she suggested. 

He blinked. “Huh? What, no it’s fine I can still-”

She squeezed his shoulder. “Listen to me.” He closed his mouth and went back to listening. “Charge, we appreciate everything you’ve done for us. Really, we do. You, and Wally and Tina and the others, we’re super grateful. If it weren’t for you guys, most of us would probably be dead by now. So thank you. But you should take a break. You’re- what, ten?” 

“Eleven,” he quietly corrected. 

“Eleven. You’re just a kid, Charge. All of this, this running back and forth and supplying us with food, drink and toys, it’s too much responsibility for a kid.” She gestured to the other teens. “We can handle things from here. You’ve given us enough of a jump start to handle things on our own.” 

He glanced down to the ground, frowning and twiddling his fingers. “So you don’t want my help anymore?” He was useless to them now. Somewhere along the line he had done something wrong and they didn’t want him around anymore. 

Lizzy quickly shook her head, seeing that he was getting upset. She crouched in front of him and held his hands. “Oh, hey, no that’s not it. We’ll always want your help, Charge.” 

“We just don’t need it anymore, buddy,” one of the other teens, a sixteen-year-old boy, piped up. 

“Adam,” Lizzy hissed at him, “that’s not helping.” 

He crouched down beside her, looking up at Wally. “What I mean is, you’ve done so much work for us and we’re worried about you, buddy. You’re, like, really small and this responsibility is really big. Your tiny body probably can’t handle that much responsibility,” he said, lightly poking a finger to the logo on his chest. 

“I’m not tiny,” Wally mumbled. 

Adam clicked his tongue and said, “that’s debatable.” Wally pouted and Adam laughed. “We’re just concerned for you, bud, just want you to take a break and go be a kid. Instead of being responsible for a gathering of homeless kids. You know we’ll always ask for your help when we need it, kay?”

Slowly, Wally pieced his words together and began to understand. So they were concerned that he was stressing himself out by helping them. Which wasn’t the case. He was always happy to help them. But he considered the fact that they could be right. He did have to start eating a lot more since he was running more often, which was taking up more energy. And he needed that energy for training with the Rogues. He saw the logic in it now. He could take a break just to save up energy for training and he would help whenever they needed it. 

“Mmkay,” he agreed, nodding. 

The teenagers smiled at him. “Great!” Lizzy beamed. She stood up and brushed her hand over the top of his cowl. “Why don’t you stay for a bit and chill out? You can show off your powers to the others, I know you love doing that,” she suggested. 

Wally grinned up at her. “Yeah! I have some free time.” With that, he sped off to where a group of kids were flipping through some colouring books. 

Having lost track of time, he ended up staying there for almost two hours. He had gone around speaking to everyone, making sure to have lengthy conversations to check in on them. Then, others started returning from the city and he had long conversations with them, too. So when Lizzy had pointed out to him that the sun was going to start setting soon, he said his goodbyes in a rush and was quickly out the door. 

He ran all the way back to the warehouse, knocking on the door before heaving it open and walking in. “Hey guys!” he greeted, looking to where the girls were sitting on the floor. Tina was surrounded by textbooks and papers, which was beginning to become a regular occurrence. Connie was sitting behind Ashley and practicing plaits using her hair. 

Ashley glanced towards Wally, trying not to move her head too much. “Hey, where have you been? Thought you’d be back earlier.”

He took his backpack off and dumped it on one of the tables. “I got distracted. Stayed at the shelter for a bit, just checking in on everyone.” He swiped up a bag of chips as he walked over to them. “I’m taking a break from the supply runs. They want me to,” he told them.

“Really?” Ashley questioned. She silently held a hand up and Wally handed her a chip.

“Yeah, Lizzy and the others said they could handle things.” He shrugged, then tossed a chip into his mouth. He held the bag out to Connie, and with a smile she took one. 

Tina glanced up from her notebook, her eyes lightning up when she saw Wally as if she hadn’t heard him come in. “Wally! Hey, I graded your test, hold on.” She began to sift through the piles of paper while Wally perked up with interest. “Aha!” Tina pulled out a few papers that were stapled together. “Here you go.” She held the papers out to Wally.

He took them and quickly read over the front. He gasped and grinned. “I got an A!?” He looked to Tina, eyes sparkling. He assumed he had at least passed the test, but he hadn’t expected to get such a high score.

She hummed and nodded. “94% to be exact. You got like two questions wrong but it’s fine, you did really well! I’d like to say it’s because I’m such a great teacher but I’m not one to brag.”

“You just did,” Ashley pointed out. Tina poked her tongue out at her.

“Can I take another one!?” Wally asked eagerly. He wanted more opportunities to get more A’s. He wanted to pass more tests. He wanted to be good at something and he wanted Tina to be proud of him. 

Tina’s brow raised with surprise. “You want to do another test?” Wally rapidly nodded. Tina blinked. “I- okay. Well, I’m still working on one with multiple sections like that one, but I think I have some multiple choice sheets laying around, give me a moment.” She searched the pile around her before she jumped up from the floor and walked over to one of the tables that had more papers on it. 

As Tina searched, Wally looked down and observed Connie’s work on Ashley’s hair. The plait was messy and uneven, and if it stayed in Ashley’s hair for a long duration it would create knots, but Connie was clearly enjoying herself. She was humming a light tune, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she worked. 

“Looks really good, Connie,” Wally said. 

She smiled up at him then quietly asked, “can I have another chip?” Wally nodded and held the bag out to her, and she took another chip with a murmured ‘thank you.’

Wally stepped back and looked to Ashley who glanced up at him. “You’re going to be the gal with the ball,” he told her. 

She frowned at him. “Isn’t it ‘belle in the hall’?”

Wally frowned back. “Is it?”

Ashley shrugged. 

“Found it!” Tina called. She waved some loose papers and walked over to Wally. “Here, you can start working on these and I’ll give you the answer sh-”

The door heaved open. They all jumped, panicked for a second as there wasn’t a knock on the door beforehand. They calmed down once they saw that it was just Mason, storming in with a glare etched on his face. 

He pointed a finger at Wally. “You!” 

Wally pointed to himself and returned, “me?”

“Yeah, you.” Mason walked further into the room. “Number 1, since when did you join Flash’s colourful bank-robbing fanbase and number 2, you wanna maybe think before you shove stolen goods into my hands!? Do you know how heavy-” he yanked his bag off his shoulder and harshly tugged the _X-box_ package out “- this is!?” 

Everyone blinked. The three girls then looked to Wally with questioning gazes. 

Wally raised his shoulders. “Uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about?” 

Mason jabbed a finger towards him. “I call bullshit.” Wally began to scramble for something to say. “Dude you’re the only one I’ve talked to about wanting an _X-box_ and I talked about how we’re out of apples this morning! Unless you managed to get Charge to stop for a nice little chat, you have no excuse out of this one,” he told him. 

Wally crossed his arms and stubbornly said, “well maybe I did.”

“Doubt it.”

“Ohhh,” Ashley started from her place on the floor, “is this about Wally getting a snazzy suit and calling himself the Charge?”

Wally and Tina blinked. Then Tina placed her hands on her hips and looked to Ashley, saying, “you knew?”

Ashley scoffed. “Well of course I knew! We all knew.” Connie nodded. “Who else do we know who’s a child, is a speedster and likes to steal things? I doubt there’s two of them!” She waggled a finger. 

“And you didn’t say anything why?” Wally asked. 

Ashley shrugged. “Figured you were testing out your suit for a bit before you wanted to show us.”

“That wasn’t the reason,” Wally said. 

“Then what was?” 

Wally waved his arms. “Well! You know- it’s dangerous for you guys to know my identity! You could get hurt!” 

Ashley raised a brow at him, an action that she was steadily getting better at doing. “Who’s going to think a bunch of street kids know Charge’s identity?” 

Wally stammered for a counter point. He looked to Tina, who shrugged and said, “she’s got a point.”

Wally’s shoulders slumped with defeat. “Yeah,” he agreed.

Ashley smiled, victorious. “So who gave you the suit, the Rogues?” 

Tina shook her head. “No, he made it by himself. He’s not working with the Rogues.”

Well, now was a better time than any. Wally turned to Tina. “Actually, about that…” Tina gasped, a look of betrayal on her face and a hand raised to her heart. “They’re just training me!” Wally assured her. 

“You said you wouldn’t!” Tina accused him. 

“Well, that was before they told me they could teach me how to steal things better!”

Tina dragged a hand down her face and sighed into her palm. “Oh, Wally, I don’t want you looking like an idiot, robbing banks and making quips and getting caught by the Flash every. single. time.”

“I’m not gonna look like an idiot!” he protested. 

“You might look like an idiot,” said Ashley. 

Wally tried to think of a comeback, however he couldn’t so he settled for huffing and crossing his arms. 

The five of them sat in silence for a few moments. 

Then Mason shifted, sighing towards the ground before holding up the _X-box_. “We don’t even have a TV,” he pointed out. Wally paused. He looked around the warehouse and concluded that, yes, they didn’t have a TV. 

“...oh.”

** August 10th – Wally was stealing from a grocery store. **

Wally made sure he had everything before swinging the bag onto his back. He gave the row of registers one last look before he was speeding out of the store

It was past 3am. Wally had trouble sleeping, so he had decided to go out for a grocery run earlier than usual. Really, he should’ve been going during this time in the first place. Everyone was sluggish, either tired or drunk and most of the cops were directed to the parts of the city that had night clubs. Plus the Flash was most definitely asleep at this time. It was the perfect time to rob some stores.

Wally ran through the streets, going slower than usual so he could enjoy the cool wind on his face and the glowing lights of the city at night. He wore a content smile. He slowed down even more and closed his eyes, letting the cold breeze wash over him. It was quiet. It was peaceful. Then he opened his eyes and saw a streak of red and yellow.

_No._

His contentedness quickly switched to horror. Fear chilled him to his core. It made him feel itchy. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. His chest tightened and he felt his breath quicken. That was the Flash. That was the Flash running. That was the Flash running _straight for him._ Stumbling, Wally turned and ran away. Though he knew it was useless. In the next moment the Flash was running beside him. He looked to him with terrified eyes and saw the Flash’s eyes widen with horror.

The Flash ran ahead and stopped, causing Wally to skid to a stop too lest he want to crash into the hero. After he stopped, he was frozen. Staring at Flash. No. No no no. _No._ This was it. Flash had him cornered. He was either going to connect the dots or force Wally to take off his cowl and find out who he was. He was going to make him go back home. He didn’t want to go home. He _didn’t._ He had a different home now. What was the Flash even doing outside at 3am!? Wally had to get out of here. Now.

He focused back on the Flash who was still looking at him with a horror-stricken face. “I- you’re just. A kid. You’re just a kid, what are you-”

“Leave me alone!” Wally yelled in a panic, turning and running away. He knew it was a futile attempt, but he had to try _something._

The Flash was in front of him again, this time holding out placating hands. “Hey, kid, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk, okay?” Wally didn’t listen, looking around frantically for an escape. He had to leave. He had to get out of here. But how? How? “Kid, what are you… how did you even _get_ these powers?” Flash asked, his voice heavy with confusion and worry. Wally paid him no mind, still looking around with wild eyes.

There.

A meter box. Sitting on a wall on the edge of an alleyway. The Rogues had started to teach him how to use his speed and transform it into super strength. He had successfully broken a few wood boards. If he hit the door of that meter box fast enough, he could crack it open. With no hesitation, he sped off. He raised his fist and, using the momentum of his run over and as much speed as he could muster, he slammed it against the door. The door cracked inwards and detached from the hinges, dropping to the ground in slow motion. He had gotten the door open, but not without a cost.

He cried out in pain as the bones in his fingers cracked and separated. He pulled back and his fingers dangled limply from his knuckles. He choked on a dry sob, tears springing to his eyes at the blinding pain searing in his hand. It made him dizzy and his vision went blurry. He quickly shook his head and gritted his teeth. Tears were already spilling down his cheeks and his hand _hurt,_ but he had to _get away._

“What are you doing!?” Flash shrieked, horrified.

Wally glanced at him. “Getting away from you.” Then he shoved his good hand into the meter box and tore the wires free. He gripped at the exposed copper and let the electricity consume him.

He screamed as it attacked him and absorbed into his skin, running through his veins. The meter box exploded with sparks. The lighting of the building before him suddenly cut out, power lines connecting to the meter box sparking. Lightning crackled to life and surrounded his body. It danced around him, moving erratically as it steadily faded from yellow to a bright blue. Wally stumbled back from the box, head dizzy but body buzzing with _electricity._

When he looked over to the Flash, there was lightning in his eyes.

“Leave me alone,” he demanded of the hero, who looked petrified.

He ran away in the next millisecond, speeding through the streets and hurrying back to the warehouse. The electricity buzzing through him numbed the pain in his hand a bit, but he still felt it and it still _hurt._ He sped back home, choking on tears along the way.

Once he got there, he pulled the door open and cried out, _“Tina!”_

There was a rustling of blankets before Tina called back in a panic, “Wally!?”

He sobbed, stumbling into the room and cradling his hand. The others were now wide awake and running towards him, all bug-eyed and panicked. As he hiccupped on his tears, he held up his hand with the limp fingers. They all gasped, Connie letting out a terrified squeak.

“Wally- oh my god _what happened!?”_ Tina asked in a rush, reaching out with a hesitant hand.

“I- the Flash- had to- it _hurts,”_ Wally whimpered.

Ashley nudged Tina out of the way. She took Wally’s hand into hers. His breath hitched in pain when she poked his fingers. “They’re dislocated. I know how to relocate them, though. Mason, go get a rag,” she directed. Mason was off with a nod. Ashley encouraged Wally to look at her. “We don’t have anything to numb your fingers, so this is going to hurt. A lot. You understand?” Shakily, Wally nodded with another whimper. “Good,” she grabbed the rag that Mason offered and handed it to Wally. “Bite down on this. I’ll try to do this as quickly as possible.”

Wally placed the rag in his mouth. Ashley pulled on a finger. He bit down on the rag and screamed into it, squeezing his eyes shut. Tina grabbed his good hand and he wrapped his fingers around it, squeezing down hard. He felt Mason rubbing circles into his back. The process continued as Ashley relocated the rest of his fingers.

Once she was done she told him, “don’t move them. Need to keep them still so they can heal.”

“It’s over, Wall-man. She’s done. You’re okay,” Tina reassured him as he cried. The rag dropped from his mouth and he freely sobbed. He had ended up on the floor at some point. His friends, his siblings surrounded him and quietly comforted him. Tina and Ashley hugged him as Mason continued to rub his back and Connie placed a hand on his knee.

Wally sniffled into Tina’s shoulder. “He almost got me. The Flash. He- I wasn’t expecting him. He-he came out of no-nowhere. Had to break a meter box to-to gain enough speed… to run away… managed to…” he trailed off, feeling a sudden and heavy tiredness weigh down on him. The adrenaline of the night’s events was beginning to wear off and he was left with exhaustion.

Tina carded her fingers through his hair, having pulled his cowl off before, and shushed him. “You’re okay, Wally. No one’s going to take you from us. Not even the Flash. You’re safe.” He felt too tired to reply so he gave a half-hearted hum. “Come on, let’s get you to bed. You need rest, now.” She helped him change into more comfortable clothes and tucked him in. Quietly the others moved their blanket piles right up next to his, and the five of them slept curled up together for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> Next chapter might be a bit late, sorry. Just need to take a bit of time off for my mental health, give the old creative machine a break. See you next chapter! Hope you're enjoying the story so far!

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me over on tumblr! https://lunmelia.tumblr.com/


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